Helen Forrest

Wikipedia:

Helen Forrest (April 12, 1917 – July 11, 1999) was one of the most popular female vocalists during America's big band Swing Era. She was born Helen Fogel to a Jewish family in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 12, 1917.

Biography

Career

By age fourteen, Helen was singing with her brother Ed’s band in Atlantic City. She eventually decided that she wanted to be singer and left for New York City. In 1934, she got her first job at WNEW New York. During this time, she sang under anonymous names. After her time at WNEW, she sang for WCBS, where she was known as “Bonnie Blue” and “The Blue Lady of Song.” Soon after, her brother Ed, who was playing in Washington, D.C., called Helen to let her know that there was an opening for a vocalist in the Washington Madrillon Club. It was around this time, that Helen changed her name to "Helen Forrest." After auditioning, she began singing in the popular supper club.

After seeing Forrest in Washington D.C., bandleader Artie Shaw asked Helen to go on tour with him. Shaw was looking for new talent when vocalist Billie Holiday had to leave the band after singing with the group for a short period of time. Helen was hired in 1938. She recorded 38 singles with Shaw's band. Two of her biggest hits with Shaw were the songs "They Say" and "All the Things You Are".

In late 1939, Forrest left Shaw and joined Benny Goodman, with whom she recorded a number of celebrated songs, including the hit song "The Man I Love". She told the Pop Chronicles radio series: "Benny would look right above your eyebrows, in the middle, right on top of the brow. He was a very strange man."

She recorded with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton in 1940. In 1941, Forrest was hired by Harry James. It was with the Harry James Orchestra that she recorded what are arguably her most popular numbers, including "I Had the Craziest Dream" in 1942 and "I Don't Want to Walk Without You." Forrest also dated James, until he met the woman he would later marry, Betty Grable.

Because of her involvement with three of the most popular bands of the big band swing era, Forrest was known as "the voice of the name bands." In 1942, Helen Forrest was voted the top female performer in the nation.

Forrest left Harry James in late 1943 in pursuit of a solo career. From 1944 to 1947, she sang on Dick Haymes' radio show. It was with Haymes that she recorded the song, "Some Sunday Morning." In 1944, she made an appearance in the Esther Williams movie Bathing Beauty with Harry James and his orchestra. After a dip in recording in the 1950s, including a stint with the startup Bell Records, Forrest sang with Tommy Dorsey's orchestra, led by Sam Donahue in the early 1960s. She continued to sing in supper clubs in the 1970s and 1980s. Her final album was released in 1983.

She kept singing until the early 1990s when rheumatoid arthritis began to affect her vocal cords and forced her into retirement. Over the course of her career, she recorded more than 500 songs. Forrest acted in several musical films, including Bathing Beauty and Two Girls and a Sailor, which were both released in 1944. Despite an unhappy childhood, frequent illness, and personal disappointments, Forrest remained dedicated to her musical profession until the early 1990s.

Personal

Forrest married and divorced three times, and had one son, Michael Forrest Feinman, who currently resides in Lancaster, California.

Helen Forrest died from congestive heart failure on July 11, 1999 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. She was 82. Her final resting place is in Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles.