Vivienne Sonia Segal (April 19, 1897 – December 29, 1992) was an American actress and singer.

Early years

Segal was born on April 19, 1897, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. She was the elder daughter of Jewish parents Bernhard Segal, a physician, and Paula (née Hahn) Segal, who encouraged Vivienne and her sisters Vera and Louise to seek careers in show business. Her obituary in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' reported that her father "underwrote a local opera company in order to give her the chance to sing." She studied singing with

Estelle Liebling Estelle Liebling (April 21, 1880 – September 25, 1970) was an American soprano, composer, arranger, music editor, and celebrated voice teacher and vocal coach. Born into the Liebling family of musicians, she began her professional opera care ...

, the voice teacher of

Beverly Sills Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verdi, she was especially renowned f ...

Career

Segal's career began when she was 15 years old and began performing with the Philadelphia Operatic Society. Her Broadway debut came in '' The Blue Paradise'' (1915), a production that was underwritten by her father. In 1924 and 1925, she was a member of the ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...

''. She was also a performer on the CBS Radio program '' Accordiana'' in 1934.Sies, Luther F. (2014). ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 11. Segal may be best remembered for creating the role of Vera Simpson in

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American ...

and

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include "Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", " Bewitched, B ...

's '' Pal Joey'' and introducing the song "

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered "Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered)" is a show tune and popular song from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical '' Pal Joey''. It is part of the Great American Songbook. The song was introduced by Vivienne Segal on December 25, 1940, in the Bro ...

". ''Pal Joey'' opened at the

Ethel Barrymore Theatre The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles ...

December 25, 1940, with a cast that included

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

and

June Havoc June Havoc (born Ellen Evangeline Hovick; November 8, 1912 – March 28, 2010) was a Canadian American actress, dancer, stage director and memoirist. Havoc was a child vaudeville performer under the tutelage of her mother Rose Thompson Hovick, ...

. She also starred as Morgan LeFay in the Rodgers and Hart revival of '' A Connecticut Yankee'' in 1942. One of

's last songs, " To Keep My Love Alive", was written specifically for her in this show. Since the 1940 ''Pal Joey'' production went unrecorded, a studio cast was assembled in 1950 to record the musical. In 2003, this recording was reissued on CD by Columbia Broadway Masterworks in a release featuring the full show's numbers plus two bonus tracks: Harold Lang singing "I Could Write a Book" (from the CBS TV show ''

Shower of Stars ''Shower of Stars'' (also known as ''Chrysler Shower of Stars'') is an American variety television series broadcast live in the United States from 1954 to 1958 by CBS. The series was broadcast in color which was a departure from the usual CBS p ...

'') and Segal singing "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" on the

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broad ...

show ''Stage Struck'', interviewed by

Mike Wallace Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...

recalling Hart's promise to write her a show. In 1952, she played in ''Pal Joey'' again, when it was revived on Broadway. Vivienne Segal retired from acting in 1966 following a guest appearance on '' Perry Mason'' as Pauline Thorsen in "The Case of the Tsarina's Tiara."

Awards

In 1952, Segal received a Donaldson Award in the Best Performance-Actress (Musical Division) category for her performance in the revival of ''Pal Joey''.

Personal life and death

Segal and actor Robert Ames eloped in 1923 but divorced three years later. In 1950, she married television executive Hubbell Robinson, Jr. Segal died in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

on December 29, 1992, aged 95. She was interred in the

Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary is a cemetery and mortuary located in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood, with an entrance from Glendon Avenue. The cemetery was ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

Musical theater

* 1915 '' The Blue Paradise'' * 1917 '' My Lady's Glove'' * 1917 ''

Miss 1917 ''Miss 1917'' is a musical revue with a book by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, music by Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern and others, and lyrics by Harry B. Smith, Otto Harbach, Henry Blossom and others. Made up of a string of vignettes, the show fea ...

'' * 1918 ''

Oh, Lady! Lady!! ''Oh, Lady! Lady!!'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern, a book by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse and lyrics by Wodehouse. It was written for the Princess Theatre on Broadway, where it played in 1918 and ran for 219 performances. The story ...

'' * 1919 '' The Little Whopper'' * 1921 '' A Dangerous Maid'' (as a replacement) * 1922 '' The Yankee Princess'' * 1923 ''

Adrienne Adrienne is the French feminine form of the male name Adrien. Its meaning is literally "from the city Hadria." * Adrienne Albert (born 1941), composer * Adrienne Ames (1907–1947), American actress * Adrienne Armstrong (born 1969), wife of G ...

'' * 1924 ''

'' * 1925 ''

'' * 1925 '' Florida Girl'' * 1926 '' Castles in the Air'' * 1926 ''

The Desert Song ''The Desert Song'' is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colo ...

'' * 1928 ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

'' * 1931 ''

The Chocolate Soldier ''The Chocolate Soldier'' (German: ''Der tapfere Soldat'' he courageous soldieror ''Der Praliné-Soldat'') is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus (composer), Oscar Straus based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, ''Arms and the Man' ...

'' * 1938 '' I Married an Angel'' * 1940 '' Pal Joey'' * 1943 '' A Connecticut Yankee''

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

revival * 1947 ''

Music in My Heart ''Music in My Heart'' is a 1940 Columbia Pictures romantic musical starring Tony Martin and Rita Hayworth. Hayworth's first musical for the studio, the film was recognized with an Academy Award nomination for the song, "It's a Blue World", perfo ...

'' * 1950 '' Great to Be Alive!'' * 1952 '' Pal Joey''

revival

Films

References

Sources

* Sies, Luther F. ''Encyclopedia of American Radio: 1920-1960''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2000.

External links

* *
Vivienne Segal photographs, 1870s-1972 (bulk 1915-1938)
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Segal, Vivienne 1897 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers Actresses from Philadelphia American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American radio actresses American television actresses Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Donaldson Award winners Jewish American actresses Musicians from Philadelphia Singers from Pennsylvania Ziegfeld girls 20th-century American Jews