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Ethel Merman biography

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Quick Facts

  • NAME: Ethel Merman
  • OCCUPATION: Theater Actress
  • BIRTH DATE: c. January 16, 1908
  • DEATH DATE: February 15, 1984
  • EDUCATION: William Cullen Bryant High School
  • PLACE OF BIRTH: Astoria, New York
  • PLACE OF DEATH: New York, New York
  • Originally: Ethel Agnes Zimmerman
more about Ethel

Best Known For

Ethel Merman is best known as a gutsy, powerful musical comedy performer and remembered for her brassy style and powerful mezzo-soprano voice.

Synopsis

Ethel Merman made her stage debut in Girl Crazy (1930). In the 1930s she made her first Hollywood appearance and also starred in her own radio show. She has successful performances in Anything Goes (1934), Red, Hot and Blie (1936), Annie Get Your Gun (1946), Call Me Madam (1950),

Contents

and Gypsy (1959). She also appeared in the film, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and appeared on numerous TV shows.

Profile

Actress and singer. Born on January 16, 1909 in Astoria, New York, USA, Ethel Merman is best known as gutsy, powerful musical comedy performer and remembered for her brassy style and powerful mezzo-soprano voice.

Merman worked as a secretary before making her stage debut in George and Ira Gershwin's Girl Crazy (1930). In the 1930s she made her first Hollywood appearance and also starred in her own radio show. A Broadway favorite, she had showstopping, successful performances in Anything Goes (1934), Red, Hot and Blue (1936), Annie Get Your Gun (1946), Call Me Madam (1950), and Gypsy (1959).

Ethel Merman also appeared in the successful Hollywood film, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and appeared on numerous televsion shows.

She was married and divorced four times, including a 32-day marriage to actor Ernest Borgnine.

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