PropertyValue
?:author
?:datePublished
  • 2019-12-02 (xsd:date)
?:headline
  • Did Marilyn Monroe Help Ella Fitzgerald Book Mocambo Gig? (af)
?:inLanguage
?:itemReviewed
?:mentions
?:reviewBody
  • A popular anecdote about how actress Marilyn Monroe helped Ella Fitzgerald book a gig at the posh West Hollywood night club Mocambo in the 1950s is frequently shared on social media. In November 2019, the History Lovers Club Twitter account posted a photograph of the two celebrities along with one of the most oft-repeated versions of this story: This is a genuine photograph of Monroe and Fitzgerald. It's also true that Monroe urged Mocambo's owner Charlie Morrison to book Fitzgerald in 1955. However, Fitzgerald was not the first black singer to perform at the West Hollywood hot spot. Singers Herb Jeffries and Earth Kitt both hit the stage at the Mocambo years earlier. Joyce Bryant also wowed crowds at the club two years before Monroe urged Morrison to book Fitzgerald. Jet Magazine reported in 1953: Black singers certainly faced discrimination in the 1950s, but it doesn't appear that Morrison was hesitant to book Fitzgerald due to her race. In the version of this story found in the the biography Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox, Morrison didn't think Fitzgerald was sexy enough to perform at his posh club (emphasis ours). Another anecdote can also be found in Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of the First Lady of Jazz. In that account, Morrison was hesitant to book a true jazz singer at the Mocambo (emphasis ours): A 1955 report from Jet Magazine shows that Monroe was true to her word, as celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and Eartha Kitt all turned out during Fitzgerald's Mocambo debut: In sum, Fitzgerald was the not the first black singer to perform at the Mocambo. However, her performance at the West Hollywood hot spot would prove to be a breaking point in numerous ways. After Monroe helped Fitzgerald get into the club, the First Lady of Jazz proved that she was worthy of performing at the hottest venues in the country. The popularity of Fitzgerald's performance may have also encouraged other night clubs to open their doors to more black singers. Tad Hershron writes in The Man Who Used Jazz for Justice, a biography about record producer Norman Granz, that the success of Fitzgerald's appearance also helped usher in the opening of integrated night clubs in Hollywood, among them Pandora's Box, the Purple Onion, the Crescendo, and the Renaissance. (en)
?:reviewRating
rdf:type
?:url