Jeanette MacDonald

Jeanette MacDonald (June 18, 1903 – January 14, 1965) was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (Love Me Tonight, The Merry Widow) and Nelson Eddy (Naughty Marietta, Rose Marie, and Maytime). During the 1930s and 1940s she starred in 29 feature films, two nominated for Best Picture Oscars, and recorded extensively, earning three Gold Records. She later appeared in grand opera, concerts, radio, and television. MacDonald was one of most influential sopranos of the 20th century, introducing grand opera to movie-going audiences and inspiring a generation of singers. Among her early hits were "Beyond the Blue Horizon", "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life", "Italian Street Song", "Will You Remember" (The prior three became Gold Records), "Isn't It Romantic?", "Indian Love Call", and "San Francisco". Starting in 1931 and continuing through the 1950s, MacDonald did regular concert tours between films. Her first European tour was in 1931, where she sang in both France and England. Her first American concert tour was in 1939, immediately after the completion of Broadway Serenade and Nelson Eddy's marriage. After that she, like him, did frequent U.S. tours between films. She sang several times at the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall. MacDonald recorded more than 90 songs during her career, working exclusively for RCA-Victor in the United States. She also did some early recordings for HMV in England and France while she was there on a concert tour in 1931. She earned numerous Gold Records, one for an LP album that she did with Nelson Eddy in 1957. MacDonald died on January 14, 1965 at 4:32 p.m., at the age of 61 after a long battle with heart problems, with her husband Gene Raymond at her bedside.