Lillian Rosedale Goodman

Lillian Rosedale Goodman
Portrait of a young white woman in 1921, wearing a hat with a wide brim and a fur stole.
Lillian Rosedale in 1921.
Born
Lillian Rosenthal

May 30, 1887
DiedJanuary 23, 1972(1972-01-23) (aged 84)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Singer, pianist, songwriter, composer

Lillian Rosedale Goodman (May 30, 1887 – January 23, 1972), born Lillian Rosenthal, was an American singer, pianist, vocal teacher, composer, and songwriter.

Early life

Lillian Rosenthal was the daughter of Emma and Elias Rosenthal.[1] Her father was a Russian-born attorney in New York.[2] She studied music at the Damrosch School of Musical Art.[3]

Career

Two white women wearing black dresses against a blue background, on the cover of sheet music with the title "My Isle of Golden Dreams"
Holt and Rosedale on the cover of sheet music in 1919

Rosedale appeared on Broadway in four shows: Hello, Alexander (1919),[4][5] The Midnight Rounders of 1920 (1920), The Century Revue (1920), and Red Pepper (1922).[6] A contralto or mezzo-soprano singer, she recorded more than a dozen duets with Vivian Holt in 1919, for Victor. She accompanied Holt as a pianist in two other recordings.[7] She and Holt performed "a refined act of musical worth"[8] in vaudeville in the 1910s,[9] and sang together on radio in the 1930s.[10][11]

Songs written or composed by Rosedale included "Chérie, I Love You",[12] "If I Could Look Into Your Eyes",[7] "Whisper to Me",[13] "Just a Bit of Dreaming", "The Sun Goes Down", "You Have My Heart", "My Shepherd is the Lord",[14] "Let There Be Peace", "I Found You",[15] "Ecstasy", and "Our Prayer".

"Chérie, I Love You", her best-known song,[16] was recorded by many popular singers, including Nat King Cole, Pat Boone, Annette Hanshaw, Grace Moore, and Frankie Laine. Phrases from the song were heard in Warner Brothers cartoons, often sung by Mel Blanc as the skunk character, Pepé Le Pew.[17]

Goodman was a member of the California Music Teachers Association and ASCAP. Later in life, she taught voice students,[18] and did voice coaching for well-known singers and actors such as José Ferrer and Betty Hutton.[19][20] She made a record of vocal exercises, I Say You Can Sing (1962).[21][22]

Personal life

As a young woman, Lillian Rosenthal was in a relationship with author Theodore Dreiser for about ten years.[3][23][24] She married attorney Mark O. Goodman in 1921.[25] They had a son, Morton Goodman, with whom she sometimes performed and wrote songs.[26] She died in 1972, aged 84 years, in Los Angeles.

References

  1. ^ Whaley, Annemarie Koning (2009). The Trouble with Dreiser: Harper and the Editing of Jennie Gerhardt. Cambria Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-60497-643-4.
  2. ^ "Obituary for ELIAS ROSENTHAL". New-York Tribune. 1919-12-15. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b Riggio, Thomas P. (2003). "Lillian Rosenthal". In Asante, Molefi K. (ed.). A Theodore Dreiser Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 326. ISBN 978-0-313-31680-7.
  4. ^ "Lillian Rosedale". The Oregon Daily Journal. 1920-10-13. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Actress in 'Hello, Alexander' Began Career as Pianist". San Diego Union and Daily Bee. November 11, 1920. Retrieved August 29, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  6. ^ "Lillian Rosedale". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
  7. ^ a b "Goodman, Lillian Rosedale". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
  8. ^ "Everything's New on Orpheum's Program This Coming Week". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1918-02-02. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Pretty Entertainer Headed for Stardom". The Washington Herald. 1919-01-23. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Doran, Dorothy (1931-12-14). "Ohio Singer Places Second in Audition". The Akron Beacon Journal. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "George Lansbury in Radio Address". York Daily Record. 1931-07-18. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
  12. ^ Chérie, I love you, New York: Harms Inc., 1926, OCLC 10361820, retrieved 2020-08-29
  13. ^ Whisper to me: song, 1925, OCLC 497325387, retrieved 2020-08-29
  14. ^ My Shepherd is the Lord, New York, N.Y.: Remick Music Corp., 1962, OCLC 498747803, retrieved 2020-08-29
  15. ^ Goodman, Lillian Rosedale (1916). I Found You. Chappell-Harms Incorporated.
  16. ^ "On Princess Stage". The Tennessean. 1931-03-01. p. 22. Retrieved 2020-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Ohmart, Ben (2012-11-15). Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices. BearManor Media.
  18. ^ "Goodman Pupils Launch Careers". The Los Angeles Times. 1941-01-26. p. 66. Retrieved 2020-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Wilson, Earl (1953-10-21). "It Happened Last Night". The Winona Daily News. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Fitzgerald, Gerry (1952-10-14). "Singing Does Things for Betty Hutton". The Times. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Goodman, Lillian Rosedale (1962). I say you can sing. Capitol Records.
  22. ^ Dahl, Arlene (1962-05-25). "Voice Can Change Your Life". Chicago Tribune. p. 55. Retrieved 2020-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Donald Pizer (2017). "Dreiser's Relationships with Women". American Literary Realism. 50 (1): 63–75. doi:10.5406/amerlitereal.50.1.0063. JSTOR 10.5406/amerlitereal.50.1.0063. S2CID 164930631.
  24. ^ Dreiser, Theodore (1983). The American Diaries, 1902-1926. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 150, note 8. ISBN 978-0-8122-1148-1.
  25. ^ "Miss Rosedale Weds" Variety (June 24, 1921): 4. via ProQuest.
  26. ^ Wolters, Larry (1935-08-20). "News of the Radio Stations". Chicago Tribune. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
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