Some of the information is Boop-Oop-a-Dooping full of SPOILERS. Boop-Oop-a-Doop! Harriet Lee
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Harriet Lee |
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Audio: |
Harriet Lee as Betty Boop: |
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Audio: |
Harriet Lee as Lulu Belle: |
Harriet Lee was a radio singer in the late 20s to early 30s. Lee first worked as a telephone operator at her parents' automobile salon in Chicago. She started her career as a stenographer, but after seeing Rudolph Valentino in a picture the night before, and being one of his ardent admirers, she thought it a splendid idea to call him at his Hollywood home.
The expense meant nothing to Harriet, who longed to experience the thrill of hearing her idol's voice. After speaking with his valet and secretary, she learned her was on location. A little disappointed, she determined to try again the next day, but there was no next day, she was fired that night. Lee sold sheet music behind a Chicago store counter to pay for her vocal teacher. A violinist friend accidentally learned she was studying voice and offered to take her to a broadcasting station. For years she broadcast in a girl duo and then Wendell Hall gave her the push that put her on CBS programs.
In 1930 she was featured on many Columbia Broadcasting Chains, out of their elaborate New York studios, is a Chicago product, having been featured on many local programs originating from the Terrace Garden studios located in the Morrison Hotel. In 1932 Lee was winner of first place in Zone One, and was declared Radio Queen at the Radio World's Fair in New York.
She was part of the Ceco Couriers program on Station WABC. Her contralto voice could be heard regularly over WABC and the Columbia net. She represented the CBS in Radio Digest's search for the beauty queen of American radio. In 1936 she would sing on the WOR radio program.
A 1946 article states that across the Metro lot to the little bungalow, Harriet Lee, a handsome blonde woman with enormous vitality and a deep voice, taught studio aspirants how to sing popular songs. Harriet Lee lent her voice to Betty Boop[1] as Dangerous Nan McGrew in The Bum Bandit.
Lee also filled in the singing dialogue for Lulu Belle in Any Little Girl That's A Nice Little Girl. In 1933, Lee appeared with Bonnie Poe at the Fox Theater. [2] In history, Lee received no credit for her Fleischer voice-overs. During the $250,000 Infringement Lawsuit, she did not testify on behalf of the Fleischers, and did not seem interested in her character roles. Despite Lee's success, she chose to disappear from public life in the mid 30s and become a voice coach for the movie star Dorothy Lamour.
Quotes
- Harriet Lee: "I can teach the technique of singing and I can teach a serious student how to use her speaking voice in song.'" (1972)
- Harriet Lee: "But no one in the world can put a voice in someone's throat if it isn't there to begin with." (1972)
Character Role(s)
| Character(s) | |||
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| 1931 | 
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Betty Boop | The Bum Bandit |
| 1931 | 
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Lulu Belle | Any Little Girl That's a Nice Little Girl |
Songs Performed as Betty Boop
- "I'm Dangerous Nan McGrew"
- "The Hold-Up Rag"
- "What Wouldn't I Do For That Man" (Lulu Belle)
Filmography
1930:
- A Tenement Tangle
- Websterian Students
1931:
- The Bum Bandit
- Any Little Girl That's a Nice Little Girl
- You're Driving Me Crazy
1933:
- Rambling 'Round Radio Row #6
1934:
- Rambling 'Round Radio Row #10
1945:
- Dangerous Partners
- Ziegfeld Follies
Gallery
Trivia
- Her contribution to the Betty Boop story is often forgotten.
- In The Bum Bandit, Lee doesn't use the usual Helen Kane impression, instead she uses her own unique style of singing.
- Lee also performed in the 1931 Fleischer Studios Screen Song titled You're Driving Me Crazy.
- She had her own experimental radio show which aired on the New York City station W2XAB (now WCBS-TV) during the 1930s.
- In 1933, she appeared in Rambling 'Round Radio Row #5.
- She often performed on radio with Ermine Calloway.
- In 1956 Janet Leigh stated that during her college days she was "a mediocre soprano" but her voice studies with coach Harriet Lee, lowered her to mezzo soprano, with a good contralto range as well. Most of all, she admits, her singing studies from Lee lowered her speaking voice, and showed her how to sell a song.