The World War II Photo of the Week
for 7 October 2002
Frances Brings Down the House ...
Guitarist Tony Romano accompanies singer Frances Langford in an impromptu USO tour performance, 1944. Comedian and USO show stalwart Bob Hope is at extreme right. Copyright Bob Hope Collection, Motion Picture, Broadcasting
and Recorded Sound Division.
Frances Langford was born Frances Newbern in Lakeland, Florida on April 4, 1914. As a young lady her talent gravitated more towards the world of opera, but a throat operation caused her singing career to take a different direction. She started performing on radio around 1930 and her first break came when bandleader Rudy Vallee heard her singing on a Tampa radio station. He offered her a guest spot on his radio show. She then gained real prominence performing "I'm In The Mood For Love" in the 1935 movie Every Night At Eight starring Alice Faye and George Raft. Following this success, she joined the Dick Powell radio show "Hollywood Hotel" and continued on it from 1935 to 1938. She appeared in 28 films, including Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and The Glenn Miller Story (1954), her final film. |
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