Ruth Etting

Ruth Etting is a 1920s and 1930s singer dubbed America's Sweetheart of Song, known for hits like "Ten Cents a Dance" and her cover of "Shine on Harvest Moon."

Life[edit]

Ruth Etting was born on November 23, 1897. She began her career as nightclub costume designer. One day when one nightclub singer was sick, she filled in, and her singing career began. She soon became the featured vocalist and married a Chicago mobster named Moe Snyder. In 1926, she was discovered and signed to an exclusive contract with Columbia Records. The following. year, Irving Berlin selected her for New York's Ziegfield Follies.

After the breakup of the Follies, she moved to Hollywood, where her loveless marriage ended. She made her last recording in 1937. A movie about her life, made in 1955, won the Academy Award for Best Story. She died on September 24, 1978.

External links[edit]

• Biography on her personal website