Frances Faye (November 4, 1912 – November 8, 1991) was an American

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

and

show tune A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. ...

singer and pianist. Born to a working-class

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York City, she was a second cousin of actor

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and ...

Career

Born as Frances Cohen, Faye's showbiz career began at the age of 15 in nightclubs where she first became a star. She appeared in one

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

film; ''

Double or Nothing Double or nothing (UK often double or quits) is a gamble to decide whether a loss or debt should be doubled. The result of a "double or nothing" bet is either the subject doubled to twice the amount as the original ''or'' the doubling of a debt. It ...

'' singing "After You". She wrote the song "Well All Right" recorded by

the Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the Swing music, swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andre ...

. Faye made her solo recording debut in 1936. Her act became famous for including

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...

s and references to homosexuality and lesbianism. Faye herself was

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

and hinted at this frequently in her act; she would often playfully alter pronouns in love songs or weave her girlfriend's name into lyrics of song. For instance, she inserted "it's a Teri, Teri day" into "The Man I Love" and on national television sang "why do all the boys treat Teri so right" in "

I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate", often simply "Sister Kate", is an up-tempo jazz dance song, written by Armand J. Piron and published in 1922. Louis Armstrong claimed he had written the song and sold it for 10$ he never received. Kate w ...

." She recorded about a dozen albums for many different record labels, including

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

and

Imperial Records Imperial Records is an American record company and label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by Universal Music Group. Early years to 19 ...

and jazz labels

Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, ...

and

Bethlehem Records Bethlehem Records was an American jazz independent record label, founded by Gus Wildi in 1953. History Bethlehem is remembered for its jazz releases from the 1950s. Producers included Creed Taylor and Teddy Charles. Bethlehem released the firs ...

Personal life

Faye was married twice in the 1940s. In the late 1950s, a woman named Teri Shepherd became her manager and lifelong partner. Shepherd discussed her relationship with Faye in Bruce Weber's 2001 film ''Chop Suey''.

Later life

Faye was arrested in 1955 on a narcotics charge in Los Angeles; police asserted that she and the three men arrested at the same time possessed marijuana. During the 1960s, Faye suffered a number of health related problems brought on by a hip accident in 1958. She nevertheless continued to tour into the early 1980s. Peter Allen credited her as a major influence and had Faye sing the vocals on the track " Just a Gigolo (Schoner Gigolo)" on his 1974 album, ''

Continental American ''Continental American'' is the third studio album by Peter Allen, released in 1974. The album was his first for A&M Records, and is notable for the inclusion of Allen's version of his co-authored hit for Olivia Newton-John, among others, "I Hon ...

''. She returned to film in 1978, playing an elderly cocaine-sniffing

madam Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French ...

in the

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both Cinema of France, French cinema and Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a fi ...

film ''

Pretty Baby Pretty Baby may refer to: * ''Pretty Baby'' (1950 film), a comedy film featuring Dennis Morgan and Betsy Drake * ''Pretty Baby'' (1978 film), a drama film featuring Brooke Shields ** ''Pretty Baby'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the film ...

''. She retired shortly afterwards. At the time of her death in 1991, aged 79, she was living with Shepherd.

Discography

Singles

*"No Regrets" / "You're Not the Kind of a Boy" (Decca – 1936) *"Boogie Woogie Washer Woman" / "Return to Sorrento" (International – 1946) *"Personality" / "Drunk with Love & Purple Wine" / "Well All Right" (International – 1946) *"All That Glitters Is Not Gold" / "I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me" (International – 1946) *"Night and Day" / "Tweet Tweet Tweetheart" (Capitol #2224 – c. 1953) *"She Looks" / "

" (Capitol #2278 – c. 1953) *"My Last Affair" / "On a Raft in the Middle of an Ocean" (Capitol #2347 – c. 1954) *"There's a Bell That Rings in My Heart" / "A Fool in Love" (Capitol #2390 – c. 1954) *"Sometimes I'm Happy" / "I Was Wrong About You" (Capitol #2472 – c. 1954) *"The Dummy Song" / "Uh-Huh" (Capitol #2542 – c. 1954) *"Hey, Mister" / "Sorry Baby" (Capitol #2604 – c. 1954) *"Summertime" / "

Mad About the Boy "Mad About the Boy" is a popular song with words and music by actor and playwright Noël Coward. It was introduced in the 1932 revue ''Words and Music (musical), Words and Music'' by Joyce Barbour, Steffi Duna, Norah Howard and Doris Hare. The ...

" (Capitol #2842 – c. 1955) *"Somebody Loves Me" / "Lonesome Road" (Bethlehem 45-11002 – 1958) *"Night and Day" / "Frances and Her Friends" (GNP No. 149 – 1959) *"It's You I Love" / " My Blue Heaven" (Imperial #5546 – 1959) *"

Sweet Georgia Brown "Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard composed in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, with lyrics by Kenneth Casey. History Reportedly, Ben Bernie came up with the concept for the song's lyrics – although he is not the credited lyricist ...

" / "You're Heavenly" (Regina R-1322) *"Willow Weep For Me" / "Comin' Home Baby"(Audio Fidelity)

Albums

*''Frances Faye'' (International, 1946) *''No Reservations'' (Capitol T-522, 1953) *''I'm Wild Again'' (Bethlehem BCP-23, 1955) *''Relaxin' With Frances Faye'' (Bethlehem BCP-62, 1956) *''Porgy and Bess'' (Bethlehem 3-LP set; with

Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

, 1956) *''Frances Faye Sings Folk Songs'' (Bethlehem BCP-6017, 1957) *''Frances Faye Swings Fats Domino'' (Imperial 9059, 1959) *''Frances Faye Sings the Blues'' (Imperial 9158, 1960) *''Caught in the Act'' (GNP 41, 1959) Live recording at the Crescendo, Hollywood; with

Jack Costanzo Jack Costanzo (September 24, 1919 – August 18, 2018) was an American percussionist. Biography A composer, conductor and drummer, Costanzo is best known for having been a bongo player, and was nicknamed "Mr. Bongo". He visited Havana three ...

*''Frances Faye in Frenzy'' (Verve, 1961) *''Swinging All the Way With Frances Faye'' (Verve V-2147, 1962) *''Caught in the Act, Vol. 2'' (GNP 92, 1963) Live recording at the Thunderbird, Las Vegas *''You Gotta Go! Go! Go!'' (Regina R-315, 1964) *''Bad, Bad Frances Faye'' (Bethlehem, 1976; reissue of ''I'm Wild Again'' with cover art from ''Relaxin' With Frances Faye'')

Filmography

*''Double or Nothing'' (1937) *''Pretty Baby'' (1978) *''Chop Suey Club'' (2001) archival clips and interviews

References

External links

The New Fabulous Frances Faye Archive
on

glbtq.com glbtq.com (also known as the glbtq Encyclopedia Project) was an online encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer ( GLBTQ) culture. Launched in 2003, it was edited by Claude J. Summers, emeritus professor at the University of ...

* *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEBD26nqDbM
Hear Frances Faye perform on a broadcast of "Hildegarde's Raleigh Room".
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faye, Frances 1912 births 1991 deaths American Ashkenazi Jews Bisexual women Capitol Records artists Imperial Records artists Jewish American musicians LGBT Jews LGBT people from New York (state) LGBT singers from the United States Musicians from Brooklyn Nightclub performers Place of death missing Traditional pop music singers Vaudeville performers Verve Records artists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American Jews 20th-century LGBT people