Frances Langford

Frances Julia Langford (April 4, 1913 – July 11, 2005) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned the Golden Age of Radio, wartime USO shows, and the early years of television. Born in Hernando, Florida, she began singing publicly at age 17 after a tonsillectomy altered her soprano voice to a rich contralto, prompting a shift from opera to big‑band popular music. A local cigar manufacturer, Eli Witt, discovered her at an American Legion party and hired her for a radio program, while schoolmate Dan White helped stage her first public performance, launching a path that soon led to Hollywood. By 1931 she appeared in the Broadway musical “Here Goes the Bride” and quickly moved into film, making her debut in Every Night at Eight (1935) where she introduced the song “I’m in the Mood for Love,” a piece that would become her signature tune. Over the next two decades she starred in such classics as Broadway Melody of 1936, Born to Dance, Too Many Girls, and Yankee Doodle Dandy, often appearing as herself and delighting audiences with her charismatic stage presence and vocal versatility.**

During World War II Langford earned the nickname “GI Nightingale” as she toured with Bob Hope, Jerry Colonna, and Tony Romano, bringing music and morale to troops across Europe, North Africa, and the South Pacific. She rode in a P‑38 fighter, wrote the “Purple Heart Diary” column for Hearst newspapers, and was celebrated for her ability to blend humor with heartfelt performances, famously prompting the loudest laugh Bob Hope ever recorded. After the war she transitioned to television, hosting variety shows such as The Frances Langford/Don Ameche Show and Frances Langford Presents, while continuing to record and appear in films like The Glenn Miller Story. Her personal life included marriages to actor Jon Hall, marine‑industry leader Ralph Evinrude, and former Air Force official Harold C. Stuart, and she remained a beloved community figure in Jensen Beach, Florida until her death in 2005.