Ethel Merman: A Life

VIKING
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland(a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi–110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Copyright © Brian Kellow, 2007
ISBN: 1-4295-7846-7
All rights reserved

The following photos in the insert are reprinted with permission from the Billy Rose Theatre Division, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and the Astor, Lenox, and Tilden foundations: p. 1
center
and
bottom
, p. 16
bottom
; the Museum of the City of New York: p. 12
top
; The Barbara Geary Collection: p. 14
top right
and
left.
All other photos are reprinted with permission from Photofest.

The lyrics from “Love Look in My Window” are reprinted thanks to kind permission from Jerry Herman.

“Rose’s Turn” from
Gypsy
—Words by Stephen Sondheim, Music by Jule Styne; ©1959 by Stratford Music Corporation and Williamson Music, Inc. Copyright Renewed. All Rights Administered by Chappell & Co. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.

“Ridin’ High”—Words and Music by Cole Porter © 1936 (Renewed) Chappell & Co. Assigned to John Wharton, Trustee of the Cole Porter Musical & Literary Property Trusts, Chappel & Co., owner of publication and allied rights throughout the world. International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

“Ours” (from
Red, Hot and Blue!
)—Words and Music by Cole Porter © 1936 (Renewed) Chappell & Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

“Let’s Do It” (Let’s Fall in Love) (from
Paris
)—Words and Music by Cole Porter © 1928 (Renewed) WB Music Corp. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

“Night and Day”—Words and Music by Cole Porter © 1932 (Renewed) WB Music Corp. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

“The Leader of a Big-Time Band” (from
Something for the Boys
)—Words and Music by Cole Porter © 1943 (Renewed) Chappell & Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

“I Get a Kick Out of You” (from
Anything Goes
)—Words and Music by Cole Porter © 1934 (Renewed) by WB Music Corp. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

“It’s De-Lovely”—Words and Music by Cole Porter © 1936 by Chappell & Co. Copyright Renewed and Assigned to John F. Wharton, Trustee of the Cole Porter Musical & Literary Property Trusts, Chappell & Co. owner of publication and allied rights throughout the world All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

“Down in the Depths (On the Ninetieth Floor)”—Words and Music by Cole Porter © 1936 Chappell & Co. Copyright Renewed, assigned to John F. Wharton, Trustee of the Cole Porter Musical & Literary Property Trusts. Publication and Allied Rights Assigned to Chappell & Co. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

“But in the Morning, No” (from
DuBarry Was a Lady
)—Words and Music by Cole Porter © 1939 (Renewed) Chappell & Co. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

“Make It Another Old Fashioned, Please” (from
Panama Hattie
)—Words and Music by Cole Porter © 1940 by Chappell & Co. Copyright Renewed and Assigned to John F. Wharton, Trustee of the Cole Porter Musical & Literary Property Trusts, Chappell & Co. owner of publication and allied rights throughout the world. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

“By the Mississinewah” (from
Something for the Boys
)—Words and Music by Cole Porter © 1943 (Renewed) by Chappell & Co. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.

“A Kind of Love Letter to New York,” from
The Love Letters of Phyllis McGinley
by Phyllis McGinley, copyright 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954 by Phyllis McGinley; renewed © 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 by Phyllis Hayden Blake. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Kellow, Brian.
Ethel Merman: a life / Brian Kellow.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Merman, Ethel. 2. Singers—United States—Biography. 3. Motion picture
actors and actresses—United States—Biography. I. Title.
ML420.M39K45 2007
782.1'4092—dc22
[B]    2007014646

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

For Scott Barnes

I could spend a lifetime thanking him for his support
throughout the writing of this book—and I may.
No writer ever had a more insightful reader,
a more faithful champion, or a more loving spouse.

Too new for an empire, too big for its boots,

With cold steel cables where it might have roots,

With everything to offer and nothing to give,

It’s a horrid place to visit but a fine place to live;

—Phyllis McGinley,
“A Kind of Love Letter to New York”