Tamara Drasin (c. 1905 – 22 February 1943), often credited as simply Tamara, was a singer and actress who introduced the song "

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for the 1933 musical '' Roberta''. The song was sung in the Broadway show by Tamara Drasin. Its first recorded performance was by Ge ...

" in the 1933 Broadway musical ''

Roberta ''Roberta'' is a musical from 1933 with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics and book by Otto Harbach. The musical is based on the novel ''Gowns by Roberta'' by Alice Duer Miller. It features the songs " Yesterdays", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Let ...

''. Tamara Drasin is sometimes confused with two other performers of the 1930s musical era, the dancers

Tamara Geva Tamara Geva (russian: Тамара Жева, born Tamara Levkievna Zheverzheeva, russian: Тамара Левкиевна Жевержеева; 17 March 1906 – 9 December 1997) was a Soviet and later an American actress, ballet dancer, and c ...

and

Tamara Toumanova Tamara Toumanova ( ka, თამარა თუმანოვა; 2 March 1919 – 29 May 1996) was a Georgian-American prima ballerina and actress. A child of exiles in Paris after the Russian Revolution of 1917, she made her debut at the ag ...

Early life

Drasin was born around 1905 in the village of Sorochintsï in

Poltava Governorate The Poltava Governorate (russian: Полтавская губерния, Poltavskaya guberniya; ua, Полтавська Губернія, translit=Poltavska huberniia) or Poltavshchyna was a Governorate (Russia), gubernia (also called a provin ...

(modern-day

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

), the daughter of Hinda "Eda" and Boris Drasin, a tailor. Her family moved to the U.S. in 1922.

Stage career

With her dark, exotic looks and throbbing vocal style, Drasin was ideal casting material for European characters in musicals of the 1930s. In '' Free for All,'' she was Marishka Tarasov; in ''

,'' she was Princess Stephanie of Russian nobility; and in '' Right This Way'' and ''

Leave It to Me! ''Leave It to Me!'' is a 1938 musical produced by Vinton Freedley with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The book was a collaborative effort by Samuel and Bella Spewack, who also directed the Broadway production. The musical was based on the play ...

'', she portrayed Frenchwomen. In all, Drasin appeared in seven musicals, from 1927 to 1938.

Music career

Besides "

" and another

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, " The Touch of Your Hand", in ''Roberta'', Drasin introduced three other standards: "

I Can Dream, Can't I? "I Can Dream, Can't I?," is a popular song written by Sammy Fain with lyrics by Irving Kahal that was published in 1937. It was included in a flop musical, '' Right This Way''. Tommy Dorsey released a hit recording of it the same year, but it w ...

" and " I'll Be Seeing You" in '' Right This Way'' and "

Get Out of Town "Get Out of Town" is a 1938 popular song written by Cole Porter, for his musical ''Leave It to Me!'', where it was introduced by Tamara Drasin. Notable recordings *Ginny Simms - recorded December 7, 1938 for Vocalion Records (catalog No. 4549). ...

" in ''

.''

Death and legacy

As ''I'll Be Seeing You'' was becoming one of the homefront anthems of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Drasin died in a

United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

plane crash near

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Portugal, on 22 February 1943. Drasin's story was partially told in the

Jane Froman Ellen Jane Froman (November 10, 1907 – April 22, 1980) was an American actress and singer. During her thirty-year career, she performed on stage, radio and television despite chronic health problems due to injuries sustained in a 1943 plane cra ...

film '' With a Song in My Heart'' (1952). Froman suffered serious injuries in the same plane crash and later said that she had given Drasin her seat, which bothered Froman for the rest of her life.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drasin, Tamara 1900s births 1943 deaths American women jazz singers American jazz singers American film actresses Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1943 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Portugal 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers Soviet emigrants to the United States American civilians killed in World War II