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Helen Morgan was an born 2 August 1900 in rural
Danville, Illinois. She was born 'Helen Riggins'
to a farmer and schoolteacher but became 'Morgan'
when her mother remarried. By 20 she had taken
voice lessons and was singing in speakeasies in
Chicago. Neither her large bosom, nor her deep
voice were fashionable during the '20s, but
nevertheless she became a wildly popular torch
singer. Her heart bled about hard living and
heartbreak onto her accompanist's piano. This
draped-over-the-piano look became her signature
look while performing at Billy Rose's Backstage
Club in 1925. Morgan drank too much and was often
drunk during these performances, despite the
National Prohibition Enforcement Act passed in
1919. During this period several Chicago gangsters
tried to help fund her various attempts to open
her own nightclub. However, Prohibition agents
kept too strict an eye on her and her attempts
failed.

Show Boat is one of Morgan's best-known
appearances. As Julie  La Verne she sang Bill
(lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse and Oscar Hammerstein)
and Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man in two stage runs
and two film productions over a span of 11 years. 

Morgan was noticed by Florenz Ziegfield while
dancing in the chorus of his production of Sally
in 1923 and she went on to perform with the
Ziegfield Follies in 1931, the Follies' last
active year. During this period she studied music
at the Metropolitan Opera in her free time.

In the late '30s Morgan was signed up for a show
at Chicago's Loop Theater. However, her alcoholism
began to affect her work and she died at 41 of
cirrhosis of the liver on 8 October 1941 in
Chicago, Illinois.

Morgan was played by Ann Blyth in a 1957
biographical film, titled The Helen Morgan Story
or Why was I born? in the US and Both Ends Of The
Candle in the UK.

==Filmography==
* Six-Cylinder Love, 1923
* The Heart Raider, 1923
* Scandals, 1925
* Show Boat, 1929 (as Julie La Verne she sang
Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man and Bill)
* Applause, 1929 (sang What Wouldn't I Do For that
Man and Give Your Little Baby Lots of Lovin)
* Glorifying the American Girl, 1930 (sang What
Wouldn't I Do For that Man)
* Roadhouse Nights, 1930 (sang It Can't Go On Like
This)
* The Gigolo Racket, 1931 (sang Nobody Breaks My
Heart and I Know He's Mine)
* Manhattan Lullaby, 1933 (sang The Stork Song)
* The Doctor, 1934 (sang One Little Smile)
* Frankie and Johnnie, 1934 (sang Give Me a Heart
to Sing To and If You Want My Heart)
* You Belong to Me, 1934 (sang When He Comes Home
to Me)
* Marie Galante, 1934 (sang Song of a Dreamer and
Serves Me Right for Treating You Wrong)
* Sweet Music, 1935 (sang  I See Two Lovers)
* Go Into Your Dance, 1935 (sang The Little Things
You Used to Do)
* Show Boat, 1936 (as Julie La Verne she sang
Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man and Bill)

==Stage==
* Sally, 1923 (chorus)
* Scandals,1925-1926 (first principal role)
* Americana, 1926
* American Grand Guignol, 1927 (sang Nobody Wants
Me)
* Show Boat, 1927-1929 (as Julie La Verne she sang
Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man and Bill)
* Sweet Adeline, 1929-1931 (starring role singing
T'was Not So Long Ago, Here am I, Why Was I Born?,
The Sun About to Rise and Don't Ever Leave Me!) 
* Ziegfeld Follies, 1931 (sang Half-Caste Woman,
lyrics by Noel Coward)
* Show Boat, 1932-1933
* Memory, 1934 (starring role singing A Fool There
Was)
* A Night at the Moulin Rouge, 1939
* Show Boat, 1940 (as Julie La Verne she sang
Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man and Bill)

==Bibliography==
* Helen Morgan, Her Life And Legend by Gilbert
Maxwell

==External links==
* http://www.filmbug.com/asin/B00005JN9D Filmbug
reviews The Helen Morgan Story