Gladys Swarthout

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Fossy
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Joined: April 29th, 2010, 8:13 pm
Location: Cairns, Qld., Australia

Gladys Swarthout

Post by Fossy »

Gladys Swarthout

Gladys was born on Christmas day, Dec 25 1900, sometimes stated as 1904, which seemed to be the norm for female performers of the time. She died at Florence, Italy on July 7, 1969.

As a child she was ill often. Her illnesses included rheumatic fever, which was to affect her in later life. In 1913 she put her hair up to appear older, and became soloist at her local church. She was an active woman, participating in tennis, skiing, golf, cycling, horseback riding and gardening
In 1925 she married, and in 1926 she made her operatic debut in Chicago. When she signed with the Chicago Opera Company she knew no operas, but on debut she had mastered 25 roles. In 1929 she made her debut at the Metropolitan. Carmen became her “signature role”. ( On leaving the Met this became the signature role of another contralto/mezzo, her friend Rise Stevens). She became a popular radio and TV star, as well as appearing in five movies.

A concert at the Met in 1951 was her last public performance, and her last radio performance was in the role of “Martha” in 1954.

Her heart problem was detected, and in 1956 she underwent open heart surgery. An intern at the hospital was Joe McKeever, became a lifelong friend. Although the surgery was successful, she was no longer strong enough to resume singing.

On July 4, 1969, Joe, now a physician at an army hospital in Livorno, Italy, was visting Florence with his wife, Mimi. Joe phoned Gladys and spoke to Glady`s servant. However Joe could not speak Italian, but felt that something was wrong. Mimi phoned and was told that Gladys had been admitted to hospital. They sped to the hospital to find that Gladys was in crisis. Although Gladys begged “let me go—let me go” Joe was able to stabilise her. Joe arranged for an American ambulance to take Gladys to the army hospital in Livorno on the Monday. (As the widow of an ex-serviceman Gladys was entitled to treatment at a military hospital). Gladys died before the transfer could take place.

Rose Of The Rancho (1936)

This was Gladys first movie. Unfortunately I have been unable to obtain a copy of it. A copy exists in the UCLA library. Although they would not sell me a copy they did tell me that if I came to Los Angeles ( lol) I would be able to view it. I have her other four movies.

Give Us This Night (1936)

Maria (Gladys Swarthout) was to sing with has been tenor Forcellini (Alan Mowbray). Forcellini is offended by comments made about him and quits the opera (Romeo and Juliet). Maria is in church one day and hears fisherman Antonio (Jan Kiepura) sing.

Antonio is persuaded to study for the role of Romeo. A series of events follows, will he sing , wont he sing. Antonio disappears and Forcellini is re-engaged. The opera goes ahead, but Forcellini is drunk and tries to sing. All ends well when Antonio appears and sings.

Although Jan Kiepura has a great voice, I feel that his acting is a let down. He is supposed to be in love with Gladys, but I get the impression that he is more in love with himself.

The story is very similar to the Kathryn Grayson/Mario Lanza movie The Toast Of New Orleans.
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JackFavell
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Joined: April 20th, 2009, 9:56 am

Re: Gladys Swarthout

Post by JackFavell »

I've only seen photos of Gladys, but I always thought she was stunningly glamorous looking with her dark hair and eyebrows and her pouty lips.
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