Friday 12 April 2019

This weekend, I am mostly dressing casual...





...like today's birthday girl, the lovely coloratura soprano Lily Pons!

Facts about Lily:
  • Born in Cannes, France, she began her long career playing the piano and singing for soldiers during WW1, before taking formal training as an opera singer.
  • Between her engagement with the company in 1931 and her retirement in 1960, Mlle Pons was one of the New York Metropolitan Opera's most enduring sopranos, performing there more than 300 times.
  • She was widely used in advertising, becoming the "face" for Lockheed airplanes, Knox gelatin and Libby’s tomato juice.
  • For a while (until it became too much to handle) she had a pet ocelot.
  • In 1955 Mlle Pons topped the bill for the first broadcast of the long-running TV series Sunday Night at the London Palladium.
  • She was awarded the Croix de Lorraine and the Légion d’honneur by the Government of France.
And here is the lady herself with one of her favourite roles (she performed in this opera 96 times!)...


Wow.

Wednesday 3 April 2019

Expert put-downs, the Kappelhoff way



It's Doris Day again! All hail...

Many happy returns, Miss Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff (born 3rd April 1922) - she's 97, you know?!