Ethel's Turn

I just read Brian Kellow's biography of Ethel Merman. I have to say, it's a pretty boring life.

I mean for all the success she enjoyed, there's just not that much there. She seems to have been a somewhat nasty, not especially bright person with little inner life, who had a voice like a trumpet and decent if limited acting chops. Professionally, she went from one hit to the next, and personally, from one failed relationship to the next.

I did learn a few new things, though. For instance, Merman (born Zimmermann) was not Jewish. Also, the stage lore about how the then unknown team of Lindsay and Crouse rewrote the book of Anything Goes because the original by Bolton and Wodehouse was about a shipwreck and would have been considered tasteless at the time, is actually a cover story. In truth, B and W had done a substandard job and their script was tossed, but because they were big writers, the producer kept their names associated with the show.

Anyway, perhaps the lengthier bio by Caryl Flynn is worth checking out, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to give it a shot.