Gladys Swarthout
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Gladys Swarthout (1900 - 1969) was an opera singer.
| Born | December 25, 1900 Deepwater, Missouri |
|---|---|
| Died | July 7, 1969 Florence, Italy |
| Occupation | Opera singer |
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
She was born on December 25, 1900 in Deepwater, Missouri.
By the time she began her career, the brown-haired, brown-eyed girl had reached a height of 5' 3.5".
[edit] Career
While studying at the Bush Conservatory of Music in Chicago, a group of friends arranged an audition for her with the Chicago Civic Opera Company. Much to her surprise, she ended up with a contract, though at the time she didn't know a single operatic role. By her debut a few months later, she had memorized 23 parts and participated in over half of the season's operas. She sang for the Ravinia Opera Company of Chicago for three seasons. In 1929, she made her debut with the New York Metropolitan Opera Company, where she was a participant for several decades.
She regularly worked eight hours a day with vocal coaches, and would spend an hour or more singing duets with her husband. She also advocated inflating balloons and blowing bubbles to strengthen the chest.
She starred in five films for Paramount Pictures, including Rose of the Rancho. For the movie Champagne Waltz with Fred MacMurray, she sang her songs in five languages, including French, German, Italian, and Spanish for the foreign versions of the films. This is reflected in the literature of the times; publicity photos and movie ads in multiple languages abound.
Swarthout also performed on a number of Opera shows on television. In one of her final public singing performances, she did a concert in January 1951 at the Met. She continued to do public appearances, however, including an appearance on "What's My Line?" in 1951. The Railroad Hour presented Martha on February 22, 1954.
She was often heard on radio programs, including those of General Motors, RCA-Magic Key, Camel Caravan, the Ford Symphony and the Prudential Family Hour. In a 1942 article, Time Magazine reported that she had earned $1,250,000 in her lifetime. Other articles discussed her compensation on her contracts with Firestone and other radio programs.
She received an honorary Doctor of Music degree, and is the only woman to have sung for the entire assembled Congress of the United States. She also sang for the Diplomatic Corps, Supreme Court and the President on the occasion of the 150th Session of Congress.
She was a big fan of and supported a number of American composers. One of her favorites was John Jacob Niles. She often sang several of his songs at her concerts.
[edit] First marriage
At some point, she married Harry Kern of Chicago, an older man who was general credit manager for the Hart-Schaffner Marx Company, but she still retained her maiden name for her singing appearances. Harry died in 1931.
[edit] Second marriage
Swarthout married Frank M. Chapman, Jr. in 1931; the two had first met in an opera house in Naples two years earlier. In addition to their common interest in singing, they enjoyed collecting French furniture, many examples of which can be seen in their photographs together. She once said, "Our marriage started as a romantic adventure. We intend to keep it that way." She collected silver and they had several dogs.
[edit] Later life
In 1956, she was diagnosed with a mitral heart valve problem. She eventually decided to undergo open heart surgery, something that would have been impossible just a few years earlier. She was on the operating table for six hours.
Later, she began a campaign to insure that parents knew the dangers of unsuspected rheumatic fever. In 1958, Dr. Paul Dudley White presented her with the American Heart Association's very first "Heart-of-the-Year" Award, to be given annually to a distinguished American whose faith and courage in meeting the personal challenge of heart disease have inspired new hope for hearts.
She wrote about her decision in "When the Song Left My Heart", an article in the October 1958 Everywoman's Family Circle.
[edit] Death
As she went into retirement, she and Frank bought a villa in Italy, La Ragnaia, near Florence, where they lived together until Frank's death.
She died on July 7, 1969 in Florence, Italy, due to heart disease.
[edit] External link
Gladys Swarthout at the Internet Movie Database
[edit] References
The content in this article is based in part on a two-part biographical entry on the Swarthout Family website ([1] and [2]). The contents of the Swarthout Family website are copyright Mark Swarthout; however, Mr Swarthout has released the content of the biography as per the terms of the GFDL in an e-mail to the Wikimedia Foundation.
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