Ethel Shutta

Ethel Shutta (pronounced "shoo-tay") (1 December 1896 – 5 February 1976) was an American actress and singer, who came to prominence through her performances on Jack Benny's radio show, her role in the early Eddie Cantor musical "Whoopee!", and her Broadway comeback in "Follies" at the age of 74.

By age 7 Ethel was being called "the little girl with the big voice." Together with her mother, Augusta, and her brother, Jack, she and her family toured as the Pee Wee Minstrels. Their family name was originally Schutte. The father, Charles, was the manager. They also played in vaudeville as The Three Shuttas.

She debuted on Broadway in "The Passing Show of 1922", and then in a series of Florenz Ziegfeld productions including "Louis the 14th" and "Whoopee!".

In 1929 she married band-leader George Olsen, with whom she had two children (her son George attended school with Hal Prince, who was later to cast Ethel in "Follies"). The couple appeared in clubs across the country, and were regulars on Jack Benny Canada Dry Radio Show.She signed off with the song "Rock-a-Bye Moon." They divorced in 1936. She continued to work on her own as a singer, while her ex-husband opened a restaurant in New Jersey that used his own recordings as background music.

Shutta came back to Broadway in 1963 with "Jennie", which starred Mary Martin. The show ran only 84 performances, and was generally considered unsuccessful.

Subsequent work was difficult to find, and Shutta used alcohol to get herself through the rough spots. Her final comeback was in her rôle as veteran actress "Hattie Walker" in 1971-1972. Ethel brought down the house each evening with Sondheim's "Broadway Baby" in the original production of "Follies". "Follies" was staged at the Winter Garden Theater where she made her first Broadway appearance for the Shuberts in 1922.

Ethel Shutta died in 1976 in New York City in St. Clare's Hospital at the age of 79. She resided in Greenwich Village.

References

* The New York Times, "Ethel Shutta, Singer, Dies at 79; Had a 70-Year Stage Career", February 7, 1976, Page 24.

Broadway

* "The Passing Show of 1922" – 1922
* "Marjorie" - 1924
* "Ziegfeld Follies" - 1924-1925 and 1971
* "Louis the 14th" - 1925
* "Whoopee!" - 1928
* "Jennie" – 1963
* "Follies" - 1971
* "Sondheim: A Musical Tribute" – 1973

Movies

* "Whoopee!" - 1930
* "The Playground" - 1965

Radio

* "The Canada Dry Ginger Ale Program", a forerunner of "The Jack Benny Show" - 1932

Television

* "Wagon Train"

References

* Ted Chapin, "Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies", Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2003 (ISBN 0-375-41328-6).