Frances Langford
b. 4 April 1913, Lakeland, Florida, USA. Langford began singing as a child and after some stage work, mostly in vaudeville, she established a reputation as a nightclub singer. By the mid-30s her light, sweet singing voice had made her a popular recording and broadcasting star and she was invited to Hollywood. Some of her films were merely vehicles in which she played supporting roles and sang a couple of songs, such as in HOLLYWOOD HOTEL (1937) and FOLLOW THE BAND (1943), the latter an early Robert Mitchum film. Occasionally, she was the female lead as in PALM SPRINGS (1936), where she played opposite David Niven in his first leading role in Hollywood, and GIRL RUSH (1944), a Wally Brown-Alan Carney comedy, in which she worked again with Mitchum. By the end of the '40s Langford's film career was virtually over but she continued to broadcast on the radio and make records, often teaming up with major stars such as Louis Armstrong. For several years she was a regular on Bob Hope's popular radio show. In 1954, she played herself in THE GLENN MILLER STORY. Subsequently, her career has drifted quietly away.