Anita Ellis

Biography

Anita Kert, 12 April 1920, Montreal, Canada. Born into an orthodox Jewish family, Ellis grew up surrounded by music. Her mother "played the piano and sang everything from opera arias to popular songs to old glorious Jewish songs". Her father was a cantor and for religious reasons the young girl was not allowed to sing in public. However, her mother was eager for her to have a show business career and when, during the depths of the Depression, the family moved to Los Angeles, California the young girl sought work in films and on radio. She enjoyed a little parochial success before winning a scholarship, at 17, to study opera at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. While there, she helped pay her way by singing with a local dance band. It was during this professional engagement, and even in singing classes at college, that she discovered that she was afflicted with literally paralyzing stage fright.

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Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.