Frances Faye (November 4, 1912 – November 8, 1991) was an American

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

and

show tune A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. Th ...

singer and pianist. Born to a working-class

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City, she was a second cousin of

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; ; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs. Kaye starred ...

Career

Born as Frances Cohen, Faye's showbiz career began at the age of 15 in nightclubs where she first became a star. She appeared in one

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

film; '' Double or Nothing'' singing "After You". She wrote the song "Well All Right" recorded by

the Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (1911–1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (1916–1995), and mezzo ...

. Faye made her solo recording debut in 1936. Her act became famous for including

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

s and references to homosexuality and lesbianism. Faye herself was

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

and hinted at this frequently in her act; she would often playfully alter pronouns in love songs or weave her girlfriend's name into lyrics of song. For instance, she inserted "it's a Teri, Teri day" into "The Man I Love" and on national television sang "why do all the boys treat Teri so right" in " I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate." She recorded about a dozen albums for many different record labels, including

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

and Imperial Records and jazz labels

Verve Records Verve Records is an active American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Ca ...

and Bethlehem Records.

Personal life

Faye was married twice in the 1940s. In the late 1950s, a woman named Teri Shepherd became her manager and lifelong partner. Shepherd discussed her relationship with Faye in Bruce Weber's 2001 film ''Chop Suey''.

Later life

Faye was arrested in 1955 on a narcotics charge in Los Angeles; police asserted that she and the three men arrested at the same time possessed marijuana. During the 1960s, Faye suffered a number of health related problems brought on by a hip accident in 1958. She nevertheless continued to tour into the early 1980s. Peter Allen credited her as a major influence and had Faye sing the backing vocals on the track 9 reprise of " Just a Gigolo (Schoner Gigolo)" on his 1974 album, '' Continental American''. She returned to film in 1978, playing an elderly cocaine-sniffing

madam Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French la ...

in the

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down", Malle made document ...

film ''

Pretty Baby Pretty Baby may refer to: * ''Pretty Baby'' (1950 film), a comedy film featuring Dennis Morgan and Betsy Drake * ''Pretty Baby'' (1978 film), a drama film featuring Brooke Shields ** ''Pretty Baby'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the film ...

''. She retired shortly afterwards. At the time of her death in 1991, aged 79, she was living with Shepherd.

Discography

Singles

*"No Regrets" / "You're Not the Kind of a Boy" (Decca – 1936) *"Boogie Woogie Washer Woman" / "Return to Sorrento" (International – 1946) *"Personality" / "Drunk with Love & Purple Wine" / "Well All Right" (International – 1946) *"All That Glitters Is Not Gold" / "I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me" (International – 1946) *"Night and Day" / "Tweet Tweet Tweetheart" (Capitol #2224 – c. 1953) *"She Looks" / " I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" (Capitol #2278 – c. 1953) *"My Last Affair" / "On a Raft in the Middle of an Ocean" (Capitol #2347 – c. 1954) *"There's a Bell That Rings in My Heart" / "A Fool in Love" (Capitol #2390 – c. 1954) *"Sometimes I'm Happy" / "I Was Wrong About You" (Capitol #2472 – c. 1954) *"The Dummy Song" / "Uh-Huh" (Capitol #2542 – c. 1954) *"Hey, Mister" / "Sorry Baby" (Capitol #2604 – c. 1954) *"Summertime" / " Mad About the Boy" (Capitol #2842 – c. 1955) *"Somebody Loves Me" / "Lonesome Road" (Bethlehem 45-11002 – 1958) *"Night and Day" / "Frances and Her Friends" (GNP No. 149 – 1959) *"It's You I Love" / " My Blue Heaven" (Imperial #5546 – 1959) *" Sweet Georgia Brown" / "You're Heavenly" (Regina R-1322) *"Willow Weep For Me" / "Comin' Home Baby"(Audio Fidelity)

Albums

*''Frances Faye'' (International, 1946) *''No Reservations'' (Capitol T-522, 1953) *''I'm Wild Again'' (Bethlehem BCP-23, 1955) *''Relaxin' With Frances Faye'' (Bethlehem BCP-62, 1956) *''Porgy and Bess'' (Bethlehem 3-LP set; with Mel Torme, 1956) *''Frances Faye Sings Folk Songs'' (Bethlehem BCP-6017, 1957) *''Frances Faye Swings Fats Domino'' (Imperial 9059, 1959) *''Frances Faye Sings the Blues'' (Imperial 9158, 1960) *''Caught in the Act'' (GNP 41, 1959) Live recording at the Crescendo, Hollywood; with Jack Costanzo *''Frances Faye in Frenzy'' (Verve, 1961) *''Swinging All the Way With Frances Faye'' (Verve V-2147, 1962) *''Caught in the Act, Vol. 2'' (GNP 92, 1963) Live recording at the Thunderbird, Las Vegas *''You Gotta Go! Go! Go!'' (Regina R-315, 1964) *''Bad, Bad Frances Faye'' (Bethlehem, 1976; reissue of ''I'm Wild Again'' with cover art from ''Relaxin' With Frances Faye'')

Filmography

*''Double or Nothing'' (1937) *''Pretty Baby'' (1978) *''Chop Suey Club'' (2001) archival clips and interviews

References

External links

The New Fabulous Frances Faye Archive
on glbtq.com * *
Hear Frances Faye perform on a broadcast of "Hildegarde's Raleigh Room".
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faye, Frances 1912 births 1991 deaths American Ashkenazi Jews Bisexual women musicians Capitol Records artists Imperial Records artists Jewish American musicians Bisexual Jews LGBTQ people from New York (state) American LGBTQ singers Musicians from Brooklyn Nightclub performers Place of death missing Traditional pop music singers American vaudeville performers Verve Records artists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American LGBTQ people LGBTQ women singers