Jango Song Of The Day-Helen Kane

Artist:Helen Kane
Song:I Wanna Be Loved By You
Album:Nipper's Greatest Hits: The 20s





When you think of the phrase Boop-Boop-A-Doop, you probably think of the cartoon character Betty Boop. But that character was based on singer Helen Kane's performance of I Wanna Be Loved By You. And Helen didn't even get to do the voice of Betty Boop. Helen had a long career first on Broadway and then in Hollywood. She was born Helen Schroeder Aug. 4, 1903 in New York City. At 15 years old, she toured in the Marx Brothers show On The Balcony. She worked vaudeville in the 20s but got her big break in the 1927 Broadway show A Night In Spain. Though the show flopped, Helen adlibbed Boop-Boop-A-Doop during a performance and that led to a role in the 1928 Oscar Hammerstein show Good Boy. Herbert Stothart, Harry Ruby & Bert Kalmar wrote the song for her and Helen took on this Flapper Girl character. She recorded I Wanna Be Loved By You and several other songs between 1928-30. They are all available but I Wanna Be Loved By You is on this RCA various artists comp of music from the 20s. This led to Helen getting a film contract with Paramount in 1929. She was used mostly as a special attraction and never became a star. Meanwhile, Fleischer Studios animator Grim Natwick created the Betty Boop character based very obviously on Helen Kane. And Helen didn't even do the voice. That was Mae Questel. Helen sued Fleischer but couldn't prove that her singing style was unique enough to win the lawsuit. Of course in the 30s, Helen's flapper character wasn't appropriate anymore and she worked as a costume designer in films for many years. When MGM produced the Kalmar/Ruby biopic Three Little Words in 1950, Debbie Reynolds played Helen Kane but Helen dubbed I Wanna Be Loved By You in the film and she appeared on TV in the 50s. Helen Kane died of breast cancer Sept. 26, 1966 at age 62. Here's Debbie Reynolds performing and Helen Kane singing I Wanna Be Loved By You from the 1950 film Three Little Words.