Nitta-Jo was the stage name for French singer and performer Fanny Dafflon born in Paris on October 7, 1880. She was also known as Fanny Durnell (spouse name), and mistakenly named ''Jeanne Daflon'' or ''Jeanne Dufflin'' in various publications.

Personal life

She was the daughter of a Swiss accountant and a French dressmaker. It was said that she made her stage debut at the age of 9, but another account states that as a child from

Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...

"she used to deliver hats from a shop on the

Rue de la Paix The Rue de la Paix (English: Peace Street; ) is a fashionable shopping street in the centre of Paris. Located in the 2nd arrondissement, running north from the Place Vendôme and ending at the Opéra Garnier, it is best known for its jewellers ...

on her bicycle and when she grew up she became a salesgirl....A well known singing teacher became interested in her voice and gave her lessons and, in due course of time, she became a concert singer." She was married in 1913 in Romania to Charles Elwood Durnell, nicknamed "Boots", a noted American horse owner and trainer who was in charge of the racing stables of the Romanian politician

Alexandru Marghiloman Alexandru Marghiloman (4 July 1854 – 10 May 1925) was a Romanian conservative statesman who served for a short time in 1918 (March–October) as Prime Minister of Romania, and had a decisive role during World War I. Early career Born in Bu ...

. The couple lived in Romania until the country entered the Great War, then they relocated to Russia, where Durnell also raced horses. They had one son, Bertrand Charles Durnell, born on September 4, 1918, in New York shortly after they arrived in the United States. Charles E. Durnell died February 16, 1949, in

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of t ...

. Nitta-Jo was the godmother of the son of French composer Mimi Recagno. She died after 1946.

Professional life

She performed as a gigolette and was known in French as ''La Gigolette Parisienne''.

In Romania and Russia

In Romania, Nitta Jo was said to have made herself "a national heroine" with her jibes against government policies. She rebuffed a government order to cease singing the French national song, ''La Marseillaise,'' while she was living there in 1916 because it was a violation of the nation's neutrality during wartime. "Did that gag Nitta Jo?" asked foreign correspondent

Robert Mountsier Robert Mountsier (1888-1972) was an author, journalist and literary agent for writer D. H. Lawrence. Personal life Mountsier was born in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, on May 14, 1888, the son of Augustine R. Mountsier of Hilgay, England. In 1905, ...

in a column. "It did not. She immediately began singing a song, each verse of which set forth to the enjoyment of her audience the weak spots in Roumanian neutrality." Each verse ended with the words, sung to several bars of the French song, "''La Marseillaise est défendue''" (the ''Marseillaise'' is defended). She left Romania during the war to go to Russia, "until the chaotic conditions there made any form of amusement impossible", according to an article in ''The Buffalo Enquirer'', which continued: "The reign of terror of the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

forced her after witnessing innumerable uprisings and massacres to escape through Siberia to Japan where she sailed to America." In Russia, she and her husband were "confined to their apartments for eight days during the revolutionary fighting", the Nevada ''Reno Evening Gazette'' reported after an interview. They arrived in the United States via

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

, Japan,

Victoria (British Columbia) Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The ...

and

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

where they stayed at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, Palace Hotel.

In North America

Her first North American tour began in September 1918 at the Princess Theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Montreal, where she sang two weeks. In October she moved on to New York City, with debuts at the Riverside and at The Palace theaters where she was said to be "a real 'find' for vaudeville." She also appeared in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo; the ''Evening News'' said she "has created a furore and has been acclaimed the greatest artiste imported in years", and in Rochester, New York, Rochester. She ended the 1919 tour in Washington D.C. In April 1920, she sang at the Orpheum Theatre (San Francisco), Orpheum Theater in San Francisco, and the next month she was at the Orpheum Theatre (Los Angeles), Orpheum in Los Angeles. ''Argonaut'' critic Josephine Hart Phelps said of her: "She fairly flashed temperament, and her whole being became a happy exuberance of rhythm." She and her husband were said to "have a beautiful home in France, to which they will return at the close of Nita-Jo's present engagement." Her tracks on stage are lost after a tour in La Ciotat in November 1938. In April 1939, she joined the Automobile-Club de Nice.

Discography

76 recordings are known to date. *1910 (Pathé, Paris): ''Ah ! Mireille !'', ''La Toquette'', ''Ça sent toujours l’amour'', ''Napolinette'', ''Tire, tire, Ninette'', ''La Bouss-Bouss-Mée'', ''Marche d’amour'', ''Grain de beauté'', ''Vien a qui'', ''Amour napolitain'', ''Zyrka''. *1912 (Pathé, Paris): ''Fioretta d’amore'', ''La Tour pointue'', ''Fille d’Espagne'', ''You-You sous les bambous'', ''Au chant des binious'', ''Le Jeune Homme du métro''. Released by Pathé Records in the United States: ''Grain de beauté''/''Vien a qui'' (October 1916). *1914 (Polyphon, released in Bucharest): ''Tire tire Ninette''/''Le Téléphone des anges'', ''Comme une cigarette''/''Une Petite Promenade''. *1921 (Odeon, Barcelona): '':fr:Mon_homme_(chanson), Mon homme''/''Les Baisers.'' *1930 (Columbia, Paris): ''Ta voix''/''Sainte Catherine de Paris''. *1931 (Columbia, Paris): ''Tango des roses''/''Un rien !'', ''Les Gueuses''/''Casablanca'', ''paradis d’Afrique'', ''La Fortune''/''Quand une femme dit : non !.'' *1932 (Columbia, Paris): ''Les Gosses à personne''/''La Folle'', ''Cocaïne''/''Du feu'', ''Etre adoré de toi''/''Fleur de joie'', ''Señorita''/''Belle Gitane.'' *1933 (Columbia, Paris): ''Sous l’ombrelle''/''Aime-moi'', ''C’est vous que j’aime''/''Ton regard'', ''Roule''/''Mais non !'', ''Fumée d’amour''/''Si tu me veux'', ''L’Etudiant passe''/''Malgré toi.'' *1934 (Columbia, Paris): ''T’avoir à moi''/''Un homme qui passe'', ''Caïn''/''Mon beau matelot.'' *1935 (Columbia, Paris): ''Un air de tango''/''Chico'', ''L’Horizon du cœur''/''C’est ton ombre'', ''Munchita''/''La Fille du mal'', ''Sahara''/''Ecoute l’amour'', ''La Course folle''/''Un tout petit pied'', ''Valsons'', ''mon amour''/''L’Oiseau de nuit.'' Unreleased: ''L’Amour est une chanson.'' *1936 (Columbia, Paris): ''Dis-moi que tu m’aimes''/''Je veux un p’tit homme'', ''J’ai soif''/''Soirs de Grenade'', ''Du vent dans les voiles''/''Mesdam’s répondez oui'', ''Dans le caboulot''/''Sorcière.Catalogue Général des disques Columbia, Columbia Paris, avril 1938, p. 302.'' Unreleased: ''Les Hommes'', ''Maison close''.

Filmography

* ''Amorezati'' (''The Lovers,'' 1915), with Georges Milton. Silent sketch comedy shot and released in Romania. *'':fr:Cendrillon_de_Paris, Cendrillon de Paris'' (1930), as Madame Marthe (la diseuse). Sung in the film: ''Ta voix'' and ''Sainte Catherine de Paris''. *''The Fortune (1931 film), The Fortune'' (''La Fortune'', 1931), as herself on stage. Sung in the film: ''Les Gueuses'' and ''La Fortune''. *'':fr:Toine_(film), Toine'' (1932), as Maud Florens (singer and love interest). Sung in the film: ''Aime-moi'' and ''Du feu''. A character named "Nita Jo" is played by Ollie Kirby in the 1923 silent drama film ''The Apache Dancer''.