Leona Anderson (born Leona Aronson; April 3, 1885 – December 25, 1973) was an American silent film actress who is possibly best remembered for her 1957 shrill music album ''Music to Suffer By''.

Biography

Leona Anderson was born as Leona Aronson on April 3, 1885, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, she was the younger sister of

Broncho Billy Anderson Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson (born Maxwell Henry Aronson; March 21, 1880 – January 20, 1971) was an American actor, writer, film director, and film producer, who was the first star of the Western film genre. He was a founder and star ...

, who co-founded

Essanay Studios The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago, and later developed an additional film lot in Niles Canyon, California. Its various stars included Francis X. Bushman, ...

in Chicago in 1907. She appeared in several films for Essanay Studios without much success beginning in 1914. In 1915, she appeared with

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

in the Essanay Studios comedy ''

In the Park ''In the Park'' is Charlie Chaplin's fourth film released in 1915 by Essanay Films. It was his third film while at the Niles Essanay Studio. It was one of several films Charlie Chaplin created in a park setting. The film co-starred Edna Purvia ...

''. In 1953, Anderson revived her career in music, billing herself as "the world's most horrible singer" and becoming a favorite of comedian

Ernie Kovacs Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was a Hungarian-American comedian, actor, and writer. Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years afte ...

and appearing several times on ''

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''. Kovacs' widow,

Edie Adams Edie Adams (born Edith Elizabeth Enke; April 16, 1927 – October 15, 2008) was an American comedian, actress, singer and businesswoman. She earned the Tony Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award. Adams was well known for her impersonation ...

, later recalled that "She (Anderson) knew she was

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

, but she was very funny, and very sweet." Music critic Ned Raggett asserts "hearing her crack, strain, burble, and otherwise demonstrate that her singing voice is completely surplus to any requirements might either be seizure-inducing or seizure-removing, depending on how you place your speakers." In 1953, Anderson recorded a single, "

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

", for a small New York City record label. (The song would later appear on the 1997 CD collection ''The Ernie Kovacs Record Collection''.) This led

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

to issue two singles by Anderson in 1954–55. This was followed by the comedic album ''Music to Suffer By'' on Unique Records in 1957, later reissued in 2011 on

Trunk Records Trunk Records is a British independent record label, which specialises mainly in lost film scores, unreleased TV music, library music, old advertising jingles, art, sexploitation and kitsch releases. It was founded in 1995 by Jonny Trunk, and ...

. ''Music to Suffer By'' featured Anderson slaughtering several classics and standards, such as

Georges Bizet's Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...

" Habanera" from ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

'' and

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

's "

I Love Paris "I Love Paris" is a popular song written by Cole Porter and published in 1953. The song was introduced by Lilo in the musical '' Can-Can''. A line in the song's lyrics inspired the title of the 1964 movie ''Paris When It Sizzles''. Notable recor ...

", as well as new material such as "Rats in My Room" (which earned enough notoriety to be

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

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and

Joey Reynolds Joseph Pinto, better known as Joey Reynolds, is a long-time radio show host and disc jockey. Reynolds' broadcasting career started on TV in Buffalo at WGR TV 2 and he worked at various stations, including at WNBC. Career His first radio job was ...

, and by

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a few years later) and "Limburger Lover". By the late 1950s, she had become widely known for her bad singing, which was apparently an act she created to mock the pompous style of serious opera singers; "Opera singers just can't kid themselves properly ... they can never let their voices go," Anderson was quoted as saying. Anderson's final film appearance was as the frightening Mrs. Slydes in the 1959 horror film ''

House on Haunted Hill ''House on Haunted Hill'' is a 1959 American horror film produced and directed by William Castle, written by Robb White and starring Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Alan Marshal, Carolyn Craig and Elisha Cook Jr. Price plays an ec ...

'', directed by

William Castle William Castle (born William Schloss Jr.; April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Orphaned at 11, Castle dropped out of high school at 15 to work in the theater. He came to the attenti ...

and starring

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

. In 1973, at age 88, she died in

Fremont, California Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San Fra ...

Partial filmography

*''The Shanty at Trembling Hill'' (1915) *''

'' (1915) *''A Horse of Another Color'' (1915) *''Her Realization'' (1915) *''Suppressed Evidence'' (1915) *''Broncho Billy's Mexican Wife'' (1915) * '' Ashes'' (1922) *''

Mud and Sand ''Mud and Sand'' is a silent film starring Stan Laurel. The title spoofs the Rudolph Valentino film ''Blood and Sand (1922 film), Blood and Sand'', and many scenes directly parody that film: Dona Sol is replaced by Filet de Sole and Carmen is ...

'' (1922) *''Johnny Gunman'' (1957) *''

'' (1959)

References

External links

* 1885 births 1973 deaths American silent film actresses 20th-century American actresses American women pop singers Outsider musicians 20th-century American singers Actresses from St. Louis Jewish American actresses 20th-century American women singers {{US-film-actor-1880s-stub