Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. now sold at Kobo

This is to announce that Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is now available as an eBook through Kobo!  Order yours through this link.

It is currently also sold through Amazon in eBook, paperback, and audiobook.  I'm very pleased to welcome the worldwide readership of devoted Kobo customers!

Ann Stars in The Student Prince tonight on TCM

Ann Blyth starred in the musical The Student Prince (1954) with Edmund Purdom, who famously, or infamously, lip-synched to Mario Lanza's signing voice.  Lanza was originally paired with Ann, but fights with the studio left him out of the picture, except for his previously recorded vocal track.  The lavish movie was filmed in color, despite the black and white press photo above of Ann and Purdom.  It can be seen tonight on Turner Classic Movies at 11:15 p.m. ET.

For more on the movie, and its background controversy, have a look at this post on my Another Old Movie Blog, or my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. in eBook, paperback, or audiobook.

Ann Blyth on Quincy, M.E. - "The Death Challenge"

Just a quick reminder that Ann Blyth appears on Quincy, M.E. today on the COZI-TV channel, 2 p.m. ET.  The episode is called "The Death Challenge," and Ann co-stars with Don Ameche with star Jack Klugman as the intrepid medical examiner sleuth.  From season four, this is episode 22, originally broadcast March 24, 1979.  You can read more about this episode on my Another Old Movie Blog here.  

Ann Blyth's Show Boat program featured in recent book

This theatre program is for Ann Blyth's appearance in the musical Show Boat on stage at the Storrowton Theatre in 1976.   I had used this program image for the "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" chapter in my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. The chapter discusses her summer theatre roles.

I was pleasantly surprised to see this program cover image also used in a recent book celebrating the centennial of the Eastern States Exposition, or Big E, as it is commonly called --  Eastern States Exposition Centennial - A Century of Fun at the Big E, (Pediment Publishing, 2016). Many events and activities have taken place on the fairgrounds over the last century -- not the lease of which is New England's "Great State Fair" in which all six New England states participate every September -- but among the other attractions was, for a period of about twenty years, a summer theater called The Storrowton Music Fair, later simply Storrowton Theatre.  


It played under a circus-like tent, in-the-round, and existed on the fairgrounds of the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Massachusetts, from 1959 to 1979. Many well-known stars of screen and stage performed there, and it was a very popular summer venue in western Massachusetts for a generation.

The Storrowton Theatre received only a brief mention in this book that was otherwise about the larger story of the Big E, so it was a delight and certainly a surprise to see Ann's appearance there in Show Boat in August of 1976 as representative of the caliber of performers. The Exposition archives must have a couple hundred programs they could have used to illustrate the big-name stars who performed there under the tent. To have chosen this one featuring Ann Blyth may be no more than serendipitous, but I like to think the editors of the book are fellow fans.

Ann Blyth sings for Charlie McCarthy

Among Ann Blyth’s many radio appearances, her guest spot as a foil for Charlie McCarthy is particularly delightful—not only does she get into comedy skits, but here you have a chance to hear her lovely singing voice.  The Charlie McCarthy Show aired April 25, 1954 on CBS radio.  Ann performs two songs on the show.  First up is “Young at Heart.”

Charlie flirts with Ann, but she reminds him she’s now married to a doctor.

Edgar Bergen, Charlie’s “alter ego” (or is that the other way around?), is called to jury duty, so Charlie helms the show by himself (along with Mortimer Snerd, Jack Kirkland, Paul Frees, and Ray Noble and his Orchestra) and offers a speed-view spoof of an entire day of radio programming, including fake commercials.  Ann joins in on the fun in a soap opera, as a commercial announcer, and in a take on “From Here to Eternity.” She also takes the part of cooking show host with a fluttery ladies club voice, and is a game show contestant with a completely different tone of voice, more like a Brooklyn telephone operator—demonstrating her remarkable vocal range and her skill at comedy.

Speaking of vocal range, Ann next launches into a really lovely rendition of “It’s a Grand Night for Singing.”  The announcer Bill Baldwin reminds us that Ann Blyth can now be seen in the motion picture The Student Prince.

The half-hour program, now in public domain, can be heard at this link here.

For a selected list of Ann’s radio performances, see the appendices of my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.