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Vivienne Sonia Segal (April 19, 1897 – December 29, 1992) was an American actress and singer.[1]
Early years
Segal was born on April 19, 1897, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the elder daughter of Jewish parents Bernhard Segal, a physician, and Paula (née Hahn) Segal, who encouraged Vivienne and her sisters Vera and Louise to seek careers in show business.[2] Her obituary in The Guardian reported that her father "underwrote a local opera company in order to give her the chance to sing."[3] She studied singing with Estelle Liebling, the voice teacher of Beverly Sills.[4]
Career
Segal's career began when she was 15 years old and began performing with the Philadelphia Operatic Society.[5] Her Broadway debut came in The Blue Paradise (1915),[6] a production that was underwritten by her father.[3] In 1924 and 1925, she was a member of the Ziegfeld Follies.[7] She was also a performer on the CBS Radio program Accordiana in 1934.[8]
Since the 1940 Pal Joey production went unrecorded, a studio cast was assembled in 1950 to record the musical. In 2003, this recording was reissued on CD by Columbia Broadway Masterworks in a release featuring the full show's numbers plus two bonus tracks:Harold Lang singing "I Could Write a Book" (from the CBS TV show Shower of Stars) and Segal singing "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" on the CBS Radio show Stage Struck, interviewed by Mike Wallace recalling Hart's promise to write her a show.[11] In 1952, she played in Pal Joey again, when it was revived on Broadway.[2]
Vivienne Segal retired from acting in 1966 following a guest appearance on Perry Mason as Pauline Thorsen in "The Case of the Tsarina's Tiara."
Awards
In 1952, Segal received a Donaldson Award in the Best Performance-Actress (Musical Division) category for her performance in the revival of Pal Joey.[12]
^ abWilliam Grimes (December 30, 1992). "Vivienne Segal, 95, a Stage Star In Roles Sweet to Cynical, Is Dead". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-12-07. Vivienne Segal, a musical-comedy star who appeared on Broadway in 'The Desert Song,' 'No, No, Nanette,' and 'Pal Joey,' died yesterday in Los Angeles. She was 95 years old and lived in Beverly Hills. She died of heart failure, said Robert Sidney, a friend. ...
^ abcStark, Bonnie Rothbart. "Vivienne Segal". Encyclopedia. Jewish Women's Archive. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
^Dean Fowler, Alandra (1994). Estelle Liebling: An exploration of her pedagogical principles as an extension and elaboration of the Marchesi method, including a survey of her music and editing for coloratura soprano and other voices (PhD). University of Arizona.
^Suskin, Steven (1990). Opening Night on Broadway: A Critical Quotebook of the Golden Era of the Musical Theatre. New York: Schrimmer Books, pp. 154–157. ISBN0-02-872625-1.