O'Connell, Helen, 1920-1993

Helen O’Connell, the petite singer who with Bob Eberly formed one of the most enduring duos in American popular music, died Thursday at a San Diego hospice.

Her manager, Gloria Burke, said she was 73. With her when she died were her husband, Frank DeVol, the orchestra leader, arranger and composer, and three of her four daughters.

Most recently she had become a soloist, appearing throughout the country on her own or with “ghost bands,” the remnants of the dance music bands of the 1930s and ‘40s. But it was with Eberly and the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra that she achieved her most abiding fame.

Their recordings of “Tangerine,” “Green Eyes” and “Amapola” sold in the hundreds of thousands when million-record sales were almost unknown; their appearances at dance and concert halls, primarily on the West Coast, guaranteed standing room only.

The songs were arranged at two levels: First, Eberly would sing the tune as a dreamy, romantic ballad; then the band would “jump it” and Miss O’Connell would join the handsome baritone in a raucous, swinging rendition that sent jitterbuggers scrambling onto the dance floor.

The arrangements were an accommodation to the demands of the radio format. Sponsors insisted that all members of the Dorsey band be showcased in a grand finale, which brought into being the idea of two vocalists sharing a single song.

The duets were established about two years after Miss O’Connell joined the Dorsey band in 1939, replacing Ella Mae Morse.

A delicate, winsome performer in an era when big-band singers were noted for their stout endurance, the blonde, dimpled Miss O’Connell began with Dorsey singing solo on such hits as “Six Lessons From Madame La Zonga,” “Little Curly Hair in a High Chair” and the classic torch song “When the Sun Comes Out.”

George T. Simon, in his anthology “The Big Bands,” said “she exploded notes so forcefully that I always pictured some little man standing behind her and pinching her at crucial times in crucial spots.”

She and Eberly were considered two of the kindest people in the often shrill band business and were the closest of friends. Many expected they would marry, but they went their separate ways after World War II.

In the 1950s, she worked with Dave Garroway on NBC’s “Today Show.” For nine years, she was host of the Miss Universe Pageant and for several years she was a television spokeswoman for Polaroid cameras. Additionally, she had a twice-weekly, 15-minute program, “The Helen O’Connell Show,” on NBC in the summer of 1957 and was in an act called Four Girls Four with Rosemary Clooney, Margaret Whiting and Kay Starr.

In the 1970s, she played about 200 one-night stands each year, traveling by jet rather than the old Dorsey bus.

Miss O’Connell, who was born in Lima, Ohio, and began singing with bands when she was 16, continued to tour until shortly before her death. For many summers, she appeared at Disneyland, sometimes with Bob Eberly and occasionally with Ray Eberle, who spelled his name differently than his brother and who was a former vocalist with the Glenn Miller band.

This summer, she toured with a big-band show. She was featured in front of orchestras carrying the names of Artie Shaw, Woody Herman and Miller, and with the contemporary version of the Pied Pipers and singer Don Cornell. Her last performance was at the Valley Forge Music Fair in Valley Forge, Pa., on Aug. 14.

The tour’s producer, Craig Hankenson of Tampa, Fla., said she had to leave just before the tour ended because she was experiencing pain.

Burke said Miss O’Connell returned home to San Juan Capistrano and was admitted to a La Jolla hospital, where she underwent surgery Aug. 27.

She married DeVol in 1991. She was previously married to Clifford Smith Jr., heir to a Boston investment fortune, from 1941 to 1951, and to novelist Tom T. Chamales, author of “Never So Few” and “Go Naked in the World,” from 1957 until his death in 1960.

A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, 10750 Ohio St., Westwood, her manager said. Donations may be sent to the Society of Singers, 8242 West 3rd St., Suite 250, Los Angeles 90048.

Helen O'Connell (May 23, 1920 – September 9, 1993) was an American singer, actress, and hostess,[1] described as "the quintessential big band singer of the 1940s".[2]

Early life
Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell grew up in Toledo, Ohio. By the time she was 15, she and her older sister, Alice, were singing duets in clubs and hotels and on radio stations in Toledo.[3]

Career
O'Connell launched her career as a big-band singer with Larry Funk and his Band of a Thousand Melodies.[4] She was singing with Funk's band in Greenwich Village when Jimmy Dorsey's manager discovered her.[5]

O'Connell joined the Dorsey band in 1939 and achieved her best selling records in the early 1940s with "Green Eyes",[6] "Amapola," "Tangerine" and "Yours". In each of these Latin-influenced numbers, Bob Eberly crooned the song which Helen then reprised in an up-tempo arrangement.[6] O'Connell was selected by Down Beat readers as best female singer in 1940 and 1941 and won the 1940 Metronome magazine poll for best female vocalist. In a 1993 obituary article, the Associated Press described O'Connell as "the darling of GIs during World War II".[2]

O'Connell retired from show business upon her first marriage in 1943. When her marriage ended in 1951, she resumed her career, achieving some chart success and making regular appearances on television. In 1953, O'Connell and Bob Eberly headlined TV's Top Tunes,[2] a summer replacement program for Perry Como's CBS television show. The program also featured Ray Anthony and his orchestra.[7] In March 1955 O'Connell visited Australia as a support act on the landmark tour headlined by singer Johnnie Ray, which set a new box office record for Australia that stood until the 1964 visit by The Beatles (and during which local media also reported that O'Connell was romantically linked with Ray).[8] O'Connell also was the featured singer on The Russ Morgan Show on CBS TV in 1956.[9] In 1957, she had her own 15-minute program, The Helen O'Connell Show, twice a week on NBC.[2]

Helen was one of the first "girls" on NBC's The Today Show, commenting at the time, "I wasn't hired as a singer, I was hired as a talker, a pleasant switch."[3] She had that role from 1956 to 1958.[2]

In 1961, Helen co-hosted the Desilu-NBC program, Here's Hollywood, conducting interviews with celebrities, often in their own homes. O'Connell co-hosted the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants with Bob Barker from 1972 to 1980 and was nominated for an Emmy award in 1976 for her coverage of the Miss Universe pageant. O'Connell sang duets with Bing Crosby, Johnny Mercer, and Dean Martin. She also sang the National Anthem for Super Bowl XV in 1981. O'Connell's 1942 recording of Brazil with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra was a 2009 addition to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

In 1992, Helen was featured along with The Andrews Sisters and Kay Starr in the KCET special, "Those Fabulous 40s".[citation needed] Her final performance was at the Valley Forge Music Festival in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania on August 14, 1993.[10]

Personal life and death
O'Connell was married to wealthy playboy Clifford Smith, Jr., from 1941 to 1951 and novelist Tom T. Chamales from 1957 to 1960[2] and had four daughters.[10] Her last marriage was in 1991, to arranger-conductor-composer Frank De Vol.[10] It ended with her death on September 9, 1993, in San Diego, California, following a battle with cancer. Her funeral was held at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Westwood, California, where she was a member.[11]