Ethel Merman

American actress and singer (1908-1984)

OverviewAI-generated

Ethel Merman was an American actor, singer, and writer born in Astoria, New York, in 1908. A mezzo-soprano who performed in the pop music genre, she was also a television actor. Her notable works include the musicals *Gypsy* and *Hello, Dolly!*, as well as *Call me madame* and *The Ethel Merman show*. She authored fifteen works, including *Who could ask for anything more*.

Merman received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was also named Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year. She was married to Ernest Borgnine and had two children. An Episcopal Church member and Republican Party affiliate, she died of natural causes due to a brain tumor in Manhattan, New York City, in 1984.

Synthesized by Vinony from 36 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works: 15

Top works

Who could ask for anything more, by Ethel Merman as told to Pete Martin
Call me madame
The Ethel Merman show
Gypsy
Hello, Dolly!

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Astoria, New York, USA

Ethel Merman (January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's Coming Up Roses", "I Get a Kick Out of You", "It's De-Lovely",…

Known for

It's a Zabriskie, Zabriskie, Zabriskie, Zabriskie Point — Mrs. Marcus (archive footage)2023
This Is Bob Hope... — Self (archive footage)2017
JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala — Self2017
The Fabulous Allan Carr — Self (archive)2017
Six by Sondheim — Self (archive footage)2013
Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies2012
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1930s: Dancing Away the Great Depression — Self (archive footage)2009
Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon — Self (archive)2008
Broadway's Lost Treasures III: The Best of The Tony Awards — Self (segment "Ethel Merman Medley") (archive footage)2005
Judy Garland Duets — Self (archive footage)2005

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Gender: Female
Origin: United States
Active from: 1908
Active to: 1984

2008 universal fire victim

Discography

Member of

Ethel Merman with the Foursome Quartet

Discogs Stream

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 50,351
Total plays: 242,304

Music

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Key facts

Born: Ethel Agnes Zimmermann , ( 1908-01-16 ) January 16, 1908, Queens, New York City, U.S.
Died: February 15, 1984 (1984-02-15) (aged 76), Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Resting place: Shrine of Remembrance Mausoleum, Colorado Springs , Colorado , U.S.
Occupations: Actress singer
Years active: 1930–1983
Political party: Republican
Awards: American Theater Hall of Fame , Hollywood Walk of Fame

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Agnes
Family name: Zimmermann
Gender: female
Citizenship: United States
Place of birth: New York City
Place of death: New York City
Occupation: film actor
Political party: Republican Party (United States)
Languages spoken: English language
Native language: English language
Religion: Episcopal Church
Award: Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year
Field of work: singing
Genre: pop music
Instrument: voice
Image: Ethel merman 1967.JPG
Number of children: 2
Work location: United States
Voice type: mezzo-soprano

Show 11 more facts

Commons category: Ethel Merman
date of birth: 1908-01-16
date of death: 1984-02-15
cause of death: brain tumor
manner of death: natural causes
Commons gallery: Ethel Merman
nominated for: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical
name in native language: Ethel Merman
start of work period: 1930-00-00
writing language: English language
birth name: Ethel Agnes Zimmermann

Sources (9)

via Wikidata · CC0

~33 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theater, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Variety claimed that she probably starred in more hit musicals than any other performer on Broadway starring in Girl Crazy, Du Barry Was a Lady, Panama Hattie, Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Call Me Madam and Gypsy. They also called her "one of the tiny handful of Broadway stars who had the talent, vitality, personality and drive to carry a show to critical and boxoffice success on her own." Among many accolades, she received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Call Me Madam, a Grammy Award for Gypsy, and a Drama Desk Award for Hello, Dolly!

Merman introduced many Broadway standards, including "I Got Rhythm" from Girl Crazy, "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy, and the Cole Porter songs "It's De-Lovely" (from Red, Hot and Blue), and "I Get a Kick Out of You", "You're the Top", and "Anything Goes" (from Anything Goes). The Irving Berlin song "There's No Business Like Show Business", written for Annie Get Your Gun, became Merman's signature song.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Ethel Merman” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (7)

Available in 50 languages

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via Wikidata sitelinks · CC0

Ethel Merman