Alice Faye, musical star of the 1930s

From a working-class New York background, Alice Faye showed an early aptitude for dancing and took it up professionally in cabaret and vaudeville. She danced in George White’s Scandals on Broadway and sang on the radio before becoming a crooner with Rudy Vallee’s band.

Her first movie appearance was with Vallee in the film version of George White’s Scandals, after which she became a mainstay of 20th Century-Fox musicals during the Thirties and early Forties, capitalizing on her cute blonde prettiness and usually playing the hard-done-by heroine not appreciated by the romantic lead (probably Tyrone Power, Don Ameche or John Payne) until the last reel.

She retired in 1945 and has made only a lew screen appearances since then, though she occasionally played in the theatre.

After a brief marriage (1936-1940) with singer Tony Martin, she wed bandleader Phil Harris in 1941. She remains a cult figure among musicals fans.

Born Alice Leppert in 1912 in New York, Faye died in 1999, also in New York.

Her key films include
1934: George White’s Scandals
1937: On The Avenue
1938: Alexander’s Ragtime Band
1938: In Old Chicago
1939: Rose of Washington Square
1939: Hollywood Cavalcade
1940: Tin Pan Alley
1941: That Night in Rio
1941: Weekend in Havana
1943: Hello, Frisco, Hello.