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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZHILDEGARDE(b Hildegarde Loretta Sell, b 1 February 1906, Adell WI; d 29 July 2005, NYC) Cabaret singer. She grew up in Milwaukee, played piano in silent cinemas, worked in vaudeville and met aspiring songwriter Ann Sosenko, whose 'Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup' became Hildegarde's theme, and who begged her to come to NYC and plug her songs. Unsuccessful at first as an entertainer, Hildegarde went to Europe with Sosenko, where they honed her act and she learned to sing in several languages. She was successful in England, then came back to the USA and began to hit the big time. She recorded her theme on Columbia in England with Carroll Gibbons, and again on Decca in the USA with Harry Sosnik in 1943. She recorded with Guy Lombardo and Percy Faith '45-6. None of her records reached the Billboard retail chart. Two of the tracks with Faith -- 'I'll Close My Eyes' and 'There's No Holding Me' -- were reissued in 2004 on the British Living Era label (see Faith's entry). She sings well enough, without the personal style of a Rosemary Clooney or a Jo Stafford; on record she sounds like a scene from one of those films noir of the 1940s. (Her dress is cut modestly, but it’s made of black lace; she looks like the girl next door, but she’s a saloon singer; on screen there’s a trio playing, but on the soundtrack it’s Percy Faith and his Orchestra. In the next scene she sets up the hero to be framed for murder.) But her cabaret act was one of the most successful of all. She must have had considerable personal presence from the beginning, for it's said that at some point Irving Berlin had met her and introduced her around society, and the Gershwins allegedly wrote 'My Cousin From Milwaukee' about her. Billed as 'the incomparable Hildegarde', she always wore long white gloves, and she was famous for spending a lot of money on gowns. She had a top ten radio show, and she made the cover of Life magazine in 1939; Revlon marketed a line of cosmetics named after her. In 1946 she earned $17,500 a week at one engagement plus 50% of the gross over $80,000. Liberace and Bobby Short both said that they were inspired by her presentation. |