“Her comic sense is every bit as authoritative, as high-handed, really, as her voice.”
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Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theater, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Variety claimed that she probably starred in more hit musicals than any other performer on Broadway starring in Girl Crazy, Du Barry Was a Lady, Panama Hattie, Anything Goes, Annie Get Your…
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entertainment · American actress and singer (1908–1984) · actor · singer · writer · television actor · stage actor · film actor · musician · also Ethel Merman, Merman
Born 16 January 1908 · Died 15 February 1984 · Q129087
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2026· 2 entries
BroadwayWorld: Ethel Merman: A Life – by Brian Kellow
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2024· 1 entry
Forbes: Klea Blackhurst To Celebrate Stage Icon Ethel Merman In Person, Online
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2017· 1 entry
Released album “Merman Sings Merman”.
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2016· 1 entry
insider.si.edu: Ethel Merman, William Gaxton and Victor Moore in "Anything Goes"
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2014· 2 entries
BroadwayWorld: The Musical Theater Project to Present ETHEL MERMAN: LOUD BUT HONEST, 10/12
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Yahoo: New Memoir Remembers Legend Ethel Merman
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2005· 1 entry
Released album “The World Is Your Balloon: The Decca Singles 1950-1951”.
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2004· 1 entry
Released album “I Got Rhythm!”.
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2002· 1 entry
Released album “Merman in Vegas”.
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2000· 1 entry
Released album “Cocktail Hour”.
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1999· 2 entries
Released album “Doin’ What Comes Naturally”.
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Released album “There’s No Business Like Show Business: The Ethel Merman Collection”.
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1998· 1 entry
Released album “24 Classic Songs”.
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1995· 1 entry
Released album “I Get a Kick Out of You”.
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1994· 1 entry
Released album “An Earful of Merman”.
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1992· 1 entry
Released album “You’re the Top”.
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1984· 5 entries
An auction of her personal effects, including furniture, artwork, and theater memorabilia, earned over $120,000 (equivalent to $372,000 in 2025) at Christie's East
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Ended with a performance of "There's No Business Like Show Business" as a tribute to Merman
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10 months after she was diagnosed with brain cancer, Merman died at her home at the age of 76
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Died 1984-02-15.
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“Broadway has been very good to me. But I've been very good to Broadway, too.”
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1983· 1 entry
Was preparing to travel to Los Angeles, to appear on the 55th Academy Awards telecast, when she collapsed in her apartment
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1981· 1 entry
Performed "Everything's Coming up Roses" at the first inauguration of Ronald Reagan
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1979· 2 entries
Released album “The Ethel Merman Disco Album”.
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Recorded The Ethel Merman Disco Album, with many of her signature songs set to a disco beat
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1974· 2 entries
Released album “Ethel Merman Sings “Annie Get Your Gun””.
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Released album “Ethel’s Ridin’ High”.
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1967· 1 entry
Of a drug overdose that was ruled accidental
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1966· 1 entry
Awarded Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year (1966).
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1964· 1 entry
Separated on August 7, 1964, and Borgnine filed for divorce on October 21, 1964
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1963· 1 entry
Merman starred in the ensemble comedy film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World alongside Spencer Tracy, Sid Caesar, Jonathan Winters, Phil Silvers, Buddy Hackett, and Mickey Rooney
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1961· 1 entry
Merman halfheartedly embarked on the national tour
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1956· 1 entry
Released album “Happy Hunting”.
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1953· 1 entry
Appeared on television with Mary Martin for The Ford 50th Anniversary Show, performing a nine-and-a-half minute song medley with Merman starting with "There's No Business Like Show Business", followed by Martin singi
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1952· 1 entry
Due to Levitt's excessive drinking and erratic behavior
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1951· 1 entry
Awarded Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (1951).
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1950· 3 entries
“I Said My Pajamas (and Put On My Prayers)”
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For which she won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
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“If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake”
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1946· 1 entry
At the Imperial Theatre, where it ran for nearly three years and 1,147 performances
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1944· 1 entry
Was set to star as the title character in the musical play Sadie Thompson with a score by Vernon Duke and Howard Dietz, directed and produced by Rouben Mamoulian
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1943· 1 entry
Merman was a featured performer in the film Stage Door Canteen and opened in another Porter musical, Something for the Boys, produced by Michael Todd
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1934· 1 entry
At the Alvin Theatre, and the New York Post called Merman "vivacious and ingratiating in her comedy moments, and the embodiment of poise and technical adroitness" when singing "as only she knows how to do
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1930· 1 entry
At the Alvin Theatre, where it ran for 272 performances
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1924· 1 entry
Merman was hired as a stenographer by the Boyce-Ite Company
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1908· 1 entry
Born 1908-01-16.
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