WHO was Ethel Merman, the person?

[BarnabyTucker]

Posted: 5/24/20 at 7:00pm

My great grandfather played vaudeville, burlesque, and Broadway houses up until Rogers and Hammerstein and modern book musicals came along.  Of all the difficult talents he played for, he said that Ethel Merman was the nastiest.  I've done some light research, and scoped through old threads, but can't find any real details as to what she was like as a person.

There are conflicting reports that say she was kind and others that say she was cruel.  Does anyone have any insight or knowledge on what she was like?

Also, I'm going to have to scan and upload some of my great grandfather's sheet music and personal notes to the boards.  A lot of treasures!  :)

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 5/24/20 at 7:13pm

Good person.  Excellent stenographer.  Mega Star.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 5/24/20 at 7:37pm

Friend of mine worked for her. Said she was very ordinary except when she sang. Unremarkable in personalty.

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 5/24/20 at 7:38pm

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4eUEvk0JIpg

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/25/20 at 1:19am

The biographies I've read paint her as rather brusque and occasionally vulgar (though a devout Episcopalian), but this is the first time I've heard her described as "the nastiest". In the sources I've read, she sounds like a typical, lifelong New Yorker, nothing worse.

This isn't to say the OP's great-grandfather was wrong. I never met Merman and I don't know what experiences he recalled.

But even today, career women complain that if they assert themselves, they are immediately labeled as "bitches". One can only imagine what it was like almost a century ago when Merman began her career.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/25/20 at 10:22am

There are stories that Ethel wasn't a particularly good mother but neither was Channing. Also, Ethel had a salty tongue. It's well-known that she absolutely hated Sandra Church (the original Louise in GYPSY) and referred to her in the vulgarist of terms. I'm sure their off-stage relationship was tense.

Other than that, I get the impression she was just a brassy broad--likevthe characters she played.

[FranklinDickson2018]

Posted: 5/25/20 at 11:12am

I met her at one of her last concerts.  I had written a letter which was sent to her hotel and also sent a small gift.  The very next day a thank you note arrived . After the concert she was very nice, only a little distant as she had been performing at full throttle. Seemed tired. Her contract even said:  "No parties after the concerts."   But she was very nice as she signed everything . In the excellent bio by Brian Kellow he describes a small Christmas tree that was always in the foyer of her apartment as giving an indication of her personality . I went to the dress rehearsal of the concert she gave  She asked for a special lighting effect "iris out".  She wasn't getting it.  She even sang the words "iris out" into the song lyrics and she still wasn't getting it . Some guy with a cigar said "you'll get it Miss Merman --- you'll get it."  She stopped and said:  "Unless you show me the effect now --- this rehearsal doesn't continue."  And believe me they did the lighting effect and they did it right  And people were whispering "oh you see she's a bitch, etc etc etc."  I think she was just a true dedicated professional. 

[nsguy45]

Posted: 5/25/20 at 11:56am

Was Merman disapproving of Sandra's affair with Jule Styne?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/25/20 at 2:54pm

nsguy45 said: "Was Merman disapproving of Sandra's affair with Jule Styne

 

Yes. According to most accounts, it was the only reason she got the role. I didn't see he but those did report that she was lackluster in the part.

 

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 5/25/20 at 3:25pm

Dollypop said: "nsguy45 said: "Was Merman disapproving of Sandra's affair with Jule Styne



Yes. According to most accounts, it was the only reason she got the role. I didn't see he but those did report that she was lackluster in the part.

"

 

So, it's not enough that someone has created a thread with the apparent purpose of trashing Ethel Merman.  Now Sandra Church (a person who is still alive, by the way) is being trashed as well.

 

Updated On: 5/25/20 at 03:25 PM

[BarnabyTucker]

Posted: 5/25/20 at 3:35pm

Thanks to all for their responses! In particular the TheatreTalk interview was great because it was awesome to hear from those who she loved and loved her.  I particularly agree with the poster who said that career women are often interpreted as bitches.  I never met my great grandfather, and this is all family lore, but I can certainly imagine that he was a man who saw any woman who exerted strength as being a threat.

Disclaimer: this thread was NOT started to trash Ethel Merman.  It's long been said that that was my great grandfather's take on Merman and, given how many folks on here seem to know a lot about the great divas, I'd figure I'd ask.  It seems like a strange conclusion to come to.

Updated On: 5/25/20 at 03:35 PM

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 5/25/20 at 3:37pm

Arthur Laurents wrote that the try out of Gypsy overlapped with Passover and Jule Styne invited the leads to a Seder. Merman was sitting in the place of honour and as soon as she sat she took a ham sandwich out of her bag and put it on the plate.

"Jule went livid. She was his star, but it was his Seder; her ham sandwich fouling his plate could not be ignored. He picked it up, threw it on the floor, and said 'Ethel, you're insulting the waiters!'

"Then, behind her back where she couldn't see him, he broke up. That was Jule. But Ethel was Ethel: always a great sense of her audience. When the music Jule had arranged for began after the Seder, she unobtrusively - and it was next to impossible for Ethel Merman to be unobtrusive - made her way over to the piano and began to sing: songs from her shows, requests, old favorites. She kept singing for almost an hour. When she finished, she had won back everyone she had lost."