User Profile

Hi-ya! I AM the Queen of Broadway.(Mary Martin can kiss my @$$) I was always a belter. When I was little, my pop would play the piano and I would sing along, and the neighbors at the end of the block could hear me. They'd say, "That little Ethel is going to go places." When the United States entered World War I, I entertained the troops by doing, what else, singing them songs. I also sang at my church, Church of the Redeemer over on Crescent Street and the Republican Club my parents belonged to. I knew from then on I wanted to be a singer, however my parents didn't think singing was a practical job, even though I was damn good at it. My mother suggested that I become a school teacher like my cousin. HA! Me, a school teacher? Not in your life! So after graduating from W.C. Bryant High School, we reached a compromise and I became a stenographer for B.K. Vacuum Booster Brake. -To this day I couldn't tell you what the hell exactly a Vacuum Booster Brake is- At night I would take the subway over to Manhattan, where I'd get jobs singing at night clubs, including Little Russia, where I was discovered. The rest is bold brassy history. -side note: My real last name is Zimmermann, but honestly, do you you think they could have fit ETHEL ZIMMERMANN on a marquee? So I just shortened it to Merman.- My career on the Great White Way spanned for over 40 years from my first show "Girl Crazy" by George & Ira Gershwin to my last in "Hello, Dolly!" which was written for me in the first place, but I initially turned it down. The greatest composers such as Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Jule Styne have all written shows and music for me. I have also made many movies such as Alexander's Ragtime Band, Happy Landing, Call Me Madam, Anything Goes, There's No Business like Show Business, and even non-musicals such as It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, The Art of Love, and Airplane! I've also appeared on many television programs, including The Lucy Show, The Muppet Show, and Batman. In my free time I love to gossip and do needlepoint. What else can I say but, "LET'S GO ON WITH THE SHOW!"



--Disclaimer: As much as I wish it were true, alas, I am not Ethel Merman, but merely a die-hard fan channeling her to create this journal.--

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