Gladys Swarthout

Gladys Swarthout (b. December 25 1900, Deepwater, Missouri - d. July 71969, Florence, Italy) was an American contralto opera singer.

Career

While studying at the Bush Conservatory of Music in Chicago, a group of friends arranged an audition for her with the Chicago Civic Opera Company. Much to her surprise, she ended up with a contract, though at the time she didn't know a single operatic role. By her debut a few months later, she had memorized 23 parts and participated in over half of the season's operas. She sang for the Ravinia Opera Company of Chicago for three seasons. In 1929, she made her debut with the New York Metropolitan Opera Company, where she was a participant for several decades.

She regularly worked eight hours a day with vocal coaches, and would spend an hour or more singing duets with her husband. She also advocated inflating balloons and blowing bubbles to strengthen the chest. Fact|date=April 2008

She starred in five films for Paramount Pictures, including "Rose of the Rancho", "Give Us This Night" and "Ambush". For the movie "Champagne Waltz" with Fred MacMurray, she sang her songs in five languages, including French, German, Italian, and Spanish for the foreign versions of the films.

Swarthout also performed on a number of opera shows on television. In one of her final public singing performances, she did a concert in January 1951 at the Met. She continued to make public appearances, including an appearance on What's My Line? in 1951. The Railroad Hour presented "Martha" on February 22 1954.

She was often heard on radio programs, including those of General Motors, RCA-Magic Key, Camel Caravan, the Ford Symphony and the Prudential Family Hour. In a 1942 article, Time Magazine reported that she had earned $1,250,000 in her lifetime. One of her signature songs on the radio was "Bless this House" featured in advertising and commonly found framed in many homes throughout America.

She received an honorary Doctor of Music degree, and is the only woman to have sung for the entire assembled Congress of the United States. She also sang for the Diplomatic Corps, Supreme Court and the President on the occasion of the 150th Session of Congress.

First marriage

At some point, she married Harry Kern of Chicago, an older man who was general credit manager for the Hart-Schaffner Marx Company, but she still retained her maiden name for her singing appearances. Harry died in 1931.

econd marriage

Swarthout married Frank M. Chapman, Jr. in 1931; the two had first met in an opera house in Naples two years earlier. In addition to their common interest in singing, they enjoyed collecting French furniture, many examples of which can be seen in their photographs together. She once said, "Our marriage started as a romantic adventure. We intend to keep it that way." She collected silver and they had several dogs.

Later life

In 1956, she was diagnosed with a mitral heart valve problem. She eventually decided to undergo open heart surgery; she was on the operating table for six hours.

Later, she began a campaign to ensure that parents knew the dangers of unsuspected rheumatic fever. In 1958, Dr. Paul Dudley White presented her with the American Heart Association's very first "Heart-of-the-Year" Award, to be given annually to a distinguished American whose faith and courage in meeting the personal challenge of heart disease have inspired new hope for hearts.

She wrote about her decision in "When the Song Left My Heart", an article in the October 1958 Everywoman's Family Circle.

Retirement in Italy

As she went into retirement, she and Frank bought a villa in Italy, La Ragnaia, near Florence, where they lived together until Frank's death.

Death

She died on July 7 1969, aged 68, in Florence from the previously diagnosed heart disease.

Writings

* "Come Soon, Tomorrow" (novel), New York, 1945
* "When the Song Left My Heart", article in Everywoman's Family Circle magazine, October 1958

ource

The content of this article is based in part on a two-part biographical entry on the Swarthout Family website ( [http://www.swarthoutfamily.org/Gladys/Biography.html] and [http://www.swarthoutfamily.org/Gladys/Bio2.html] ). The contents of the Swarthout Family website are the copyright of Mark Swarthout, whohas released the content of the biography as per the terms of the GFDL in an e-mail to the Wikimedia Foundation, including letters, written by Gladys Swarthout from 1932 to 1950.

External links

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* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=1071 Photographs of Gladys Swarthout]