Miriam Ruth "Mimi" Benzell (April 6, 1918 – December 23, 1970) was an American

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

who performed with the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is opera ...

before establishing herself as a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, and

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gen ...

performer.

Life and career

Early life and education

Mimi Benzell was born in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequo ...

on April 6, 1918 to William and Esther (née Cohn) Benzell. Her father was in the furniture business and her paternal grandfather had been a popular singer in Russia before emigrating to the United States. Mimi Benzell and her family moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where she attended James Madison High School in

Brooklyn, New York 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 ...

. She later attended

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admin ...

for two years and the

Mannes School of Music Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School c ...

. Though Benzell was originally a piano student, she switched over to voice under the instruction of Madame Olga Eisner.

Career

At the age of 20, Benzell made her debut in a Sunday concert in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

on December 3, 1944, during which she played the role of Zerlina in

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; Köchel catalogue, K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The rake (stock character), Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Pon ...

'' and the Queen of the Night in ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that in ...

''. She made her Metropolitan Opera stage debut on January 5, 1945, again playing the role of the Queen of the Night in ''The Magic Flute''. Additional Met credits that Benzell compiled include performances in ''

La Bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep ...

'', ''

Mignon ''Mignon'' is an 1866 ''opéra comique'' (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's 1795-96 novel '' Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre''. ...

'', ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had co ...

'', ''

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' ...

'', ''

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 novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the ...

'', and '' Barber of Seville''. On March 23, 1956, Benzell starred as the guest soloist in the Hofstra College Symphony Orchestra's final concert of the season at

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of New ...

. In 1961, she appeared in

Jerry Herman Gerald Sheldon Herman (July 10, 1931December 26, 2019) was an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway theatre. One of the most commercially successful Broadway songwriters of his time, Herman was the composer and lyrici ...

's first book musical, '' Milk and Honey,'' which proved to be her only Broadway production. Benzell performed on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

,'' then still titled ''Toast of the Town,'' eleven times between 1949 and 1955. In 1951 she co-starred in ''

The Pet Milk Show ''Saturday Night Serenade'' is an American old-time radio program that featured popular music. The 30-minute program was broadcast on CBS on Saturday nights from October 3, 1936, until September 25, 1948, sponsored by Pet Milk. In 1948, the show ...

'' on radio with Jack Pearl, which aired on Tuesday nights on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, and also featured Cliff Hall and Gus Haenschen's Orchestra. She appeared as a panelist on both the daytime and

primetime Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

editions of the game show '' To Tell the Truth,'' and was a guest star on the short-lived DuMont series '' Off the Record'' alongside

Zero Mostel Samuel Joel "Zero" Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in ''Fiddler on the Roof'', Pseudolus on stage and on ...

and

Joey Faye Joey Faye (born Joseph Antony Palladino, July 12, 1909 or 1910 or 1902– April 26, 1997) was an American comedian and actor. Born in New York City, he gained fame as a comic in vaudeville and claimed that he created two of vaudeville's more reno ...

. Among her recordings were '' Roberta'' and '' The Vagabond King,'' both with Alfred Drake.

Director of the Nassau County Office of Performing and Fine Arts

On January 30, 1969, Benzell was appointed by Nassau County Executive Eugene H. Nickerson as the director of the Nassau County Office of Performing and Fine Arts. A major accomplishment that the Nassau County Office of Performing and Fine Arts made under her direction was the successful coordination of cultural programs in schools across Nassau County. She served in this capacity until 1970, when she stepped down due to personal reasons. Despite her resignation as director, she continued to serve as an adviser for the office.

Personal life

Benzell was married to Walter Gould, the brother of American composer Morton Gould; Walter also served as her manager. They resided at 45 Cardinal Road in Flower Hill, New York, and had two children: Jonathan and Jennifer. She was active in numerous charitable organizations, including the women's division of

B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peo ...

Death and legacy

Benzell died of an undisclosed form of cancer on December 23, 1970, at

North Shore University Hospital North Shore University Hospital (formerly known as Manhasset Hospital) is a part of Northwell Health, New York State's largest healthcare provider and private employer. It is a primary teaching hospital for the Donald & Barbara Zucker School of ...

Manhasset, New York Manhasset is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Manhasset area. The population was 8,176 at the 2020 United States ce ...

, at the age of 52.Editors (December 24, 1970
“Mimi Benzell, Entertainer, Dead”
''New York Times''; retrieved April 7, 2017. ''NOTE: Wrong age at death''. Her funeral service was held in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on December 27. A small green space on Waring Drive in Flower Hill near her former home is named Miriam Benzell Green in honor of Benzell.

References

External links

Mimi Benzell scrapbook, 1961–62
(documenting her appearance in Milk and Honey) in the Music Division of the

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benzell, Mimi 1918 births 1970 deaths American operatic sopranos American musical theatre actresses American television actresses Actresses from New York City Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Musicians from Brooklyn 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American women opera singers James Madison High School (Brooklyn) alumni Classical musicians from New York (state) Flower Hill, New York People from Bridgeport, Connecticut