Helen Morgan Very Rare Very Early Autographed 7/9 Photo 20s Showboat

Description: Here is a very rare very early vintage original autographed 7" by 9" photo of singer and actress Helen Morgan (1900-1941), from her prime in the 1920s. Before the tragic legacies of songbird icons Édith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Judy Garland took hold, there was the one...the original...lady who sang the blues and started the whole "bawl" rolling. Like her successors, Helen Morgan lived the sad songs she sang...and more. She started her life fittingly enough on August 2, 1900 in very humble surroundings. Her father was an Illinois dirt farmer and school master. She moved to Chicago while young and worked a number of menial blue-collar jobs -- manicurist, cracker-packager, counter clerk. But her passion was music and, at the age of 18, decided to leave and pursue her dream as a cabaret singer. Within a few years, she was working under the Broadway lights with The George White Scandals. In between. she studied music at the Metropolitan Opera and performed in vaudeville shows. Helen was the antithesis of the freewheeling "Jazz Age" baby as her deep, dusky voice seemed born to weave tales of sadness and lament rather than focusing on fun and frolic. The Chicago mobsters and underground bootleggers bawled like burly babies and really took to Helen's "torch song" renditions while glamorously propped on a piano with trademark scarf in hand (originally used to disguise nerves). Prohibition-era gangsters even bankrolled her clubs which became very popular...and frequently raided. Helen conquered Broadway in the late 1920s with her quintessential role as the tragic mulatto, "Julie", in the landmark smash musical, "Show Boat", in 1927. Introducing the standards "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" and "Bill", Helen earned more success with the musical "Sweet Adeline" in 1929 in which she introduced another favorite "Why Was I Born?". Her fragile mind and heart, however, couldn't handle the problems that started surfacing in the 1930s. A broken marriage, emotional instability and a deep passion for the demon drink quickly did her in. She couldn't hold jobs and her health worsened by the year. After spiraling badly for a half-decade, she tried sobering up and made a huge splash in 1936 with the screen version of Show Boat (1936) starring Irene Dunne, Allan Jones and Paul Robeson. She also began to redeem herself in clubs again but it was ultimately too late. Years of abuse did its damage and she died of liver cirrhosis in 1941 at age 41. In 1957, a glossy, somewhat fictitious movie was made chronicling her life and troubled times. The Helen Morgan Story (1957), starred a game Ann Blyth as the sultry, ill-fated songstress, with Gogi Grant a spectacular choice for dubbing in the vocals to all of Helen's best known standards. Yes, before there was a Garland, there was Morgan, and although Garland seems to have her beat these days as THE musical icon of despair, Helen was the original tear-stained blueprint. Minor waviness, small crease lower left, minor corner and edge wear. Very rare. Will ship worldwide. I always combine shipping on multiple orders. Filmography: Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Helen Morgan, and Charles Winninger in Show Boat (1936)Show Boat7.4Julie1936 Chester Morris and Lilyan Tashman in Frankie and Johnnie (1936)Frankie and Johnnie6.4Frankie1936 Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler in Go Into Your Dance (1935)Go Into Your Dance6.1Luana Wells1935 Ann Dvorak, Allen Jenkins, Helen Morgan, Rudy Vallee, and Alice White in Sweet Music (1935)Sweet Music5.9Helen Morgan1935 Ketti Gallian in Marie Galante (1934)Marie Galante5.6Miss Tapia1934 Helen Mack and Lee Tracy in You Belong to Me (1934)You Belong to Me6.5Bonnie Kay1934 The DoctorShort1934 Manhattan LullabyShort1933 John Hamilton in The Gigolo Racket (1931)The Gigolo Racket7.4ShortHelen Marlowe1931 Helen Morgan and Charles Ruggles in Roadhouse Nights (1930)Roadhouse Nights5.8Lola Fagan1930 Mary Eaton in Glorifying the American Girl (1929)Glorifying the American Girl5.7Helen Morgan - Appearance in Revue Scenes1929 Helen Morgan in Applause (1929)Applause7.1Kitty Darling1929 Laura La Plante and Joseph Schildkraut in Show Boat (1929)Show Boat6.1Julie LaVerne [prologue]1929 Florence Eldridge, Donald Meek, and Ernest Truex in Six Cylinder Love (1923)Six Cylinder LoveExtra (uncredited)1923 Agnes Ayres in The Heart Raider (1923)The Heart RaiderMinor Role (uncredited)1923 SoundtrackHollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1920s: The Dawn of the Hollywood Musical (2008)Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1920s: The Dawn of the Hollywood Musical8.1Videoperformer: "What Wouldn't I Do for That Man?" (uncredited)2008 Jerry Holland, Marcello Krakoff, Amy Levitt, Jeffrey Lippa, Helen Morgan, Lisa Jane Persky, Elsa Raven, Rick Singer, Mews Small, and Ron Thompson in American Pop (1981)American Pop7.1performer: "Bill"1981 Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)Alice, Sweet Alice6.4performer: "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "Something to Remember You By"1976 Elvis Presley in The Twentieth Century (1957)The Twentieth Century8.2TV Seriesperformer: "Bill" (excerpt)19611 episode Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Helen Morgan, and Charles Winninger in Show Boat (1936)Show Boat7.4performer: "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" (1927), "Bill" (1927) (uncredited)1936 Chester Morris and Lilyan Tashman in Frankie and Johnnie (1936)Frankie and Johnnie6.4performer: "Give Me a Heart to Sing To" (uncredited)1936 Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler in Go Into Your Dance (1935)Go Into Your Dance6.1performer: "The Little Things You Used to Do" (1935) ("The Little Things You Used to Do" (1935), uncredited)1935 Ann Dvorak, Allen Jenkins, Helen Morgan, Rudy Vallee, and Alice White in Sweet Music (1935)Sweet Music5.9performer: "I See Two Lovers" (uncredited)1935 Ketti Gallian in Marie Galante (1934)Marie Galante5.6performer: "Serves Me Right for Treating You Wrong"1934 John Hamilton in The Gigolo Racket (1931)The Gigolo Racket7.4Shortperformer: "Nobody Breaks My Heart", "I Know He's Mine" (uncredited)1931 Mary Eaton in Glorifying the American Girl (1929)Glorifying the American Girl5.7performer: "What Wouldn't I Do for That Man?" (1929) (uncredited)1929 Helen Morgan in Applause (1929)Applause7.1performer: "What Wouldn't I Do for That Man?" (uncredited)1929 Laura La Plante and Joseph Schildkraut in Show Boat (1929)Show Boat6.1performer: "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" (1927), "Bill" (1927) (uncredited)1929

Price: 109.99 USD

Location: Marietta, Georgia

End Time: 2025-01-19T02:00:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 4.5 USD