MORGAN

Hal PHYFE (Herold Rodney Eaton, 1892-1968) was a Broadway photographer famous for his theatrical portraits of the 1920s and 1930s. His photos have been described as competent, but not in the Cecil Beaton or Edward Steichen league.Morgan was a quintessential torch singer, she made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s. She starred as Julie LaVerne in the original Broadway production of Hammerstein and Kern's musical Show Boat in 1927, as well as in the 1932 Broadway revival of the musical, and appeared in two film adaptations, a part-talkie made in 1929 (prologue only) and a full-sound version made in 1936, becoming firmly associated with the role. She suffered from bouts of alcoholism, and despite her notable success in the title role of another Hammerstein and Kern's Broadway musical, Sweet Adeline (1929), her stage career was relatively short. Helen Morgan died of cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 41.