Ruth Etting

b. 23 November 1896, David City, Nebraska, USA, d. 24 September 1978, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.
This famous torch singer sang on radio and in Chicago nightclubs before making her Broadway debut in Ziegfeld Follies Of 1927,
in which she made a tremendous impact with "Shaking The Blues Away".
In her next show, Whoopee (1928), she introduced "Love Me Or Leave Me", which was subsequently always associated with her,
and titled her 1955 film biography, which starred Doris Day.
After launching two more future standards, "Get Happy" (Nine-Fifteen Revue) and "Ten Cents A Dance" (Simple Simon),
her sparkling rendition of an old Nora Bayes number, "Shine On Harvest Moon", in Ziegfeld Follies Of 1931, made the song a hit all over again.
By then she was one of America's brightest stars with her own radio shows and string of hit records.

In the 30s she also made three popular movies, Roman Scandals, Hips, Hips, Hooray!, and Gift Of Gab.
In 1936 she appeared on the London stage in Transatlantic Rhythm.
A year later she split from her husband and manager, Martin ("Moe The Gimp") Snyder, a Chicago "hood" who had guided her career from the start.
James Cagney played Snyder in the biopic Love Me Or Leave Me, and the story of his domination of Etting's life and his revenge wounding of her second husband.
After Ruth Etting's career faded towards the end of the 30s, she entertained at intervals during World War II and enjoyed a brief comeback in the late 40s.