Voting Station

Ruth Etting

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Vocalist

The Resume

    (November 23, 1897-September 24, 1978)
    Born in David City, Nebraska
    Singer/actress
    Signature tunes include 'Shine On, Harvest Moon,' 'Ten Cents a Dance,' 'You Made Me Love You' and 'Love Me or Leave Me'
    Appeared on Broadway in the Ziegfeld Follies (1927,1931), 'Whoopee!' (1928) and 'Simple Simon' (1930)
    Appeared in the films 'Roman Scandals' (1933), 'Gift of Gab' (1934) and 'Hips, Hips, Hooray!' (1934)
    Portrayed by Doris Day in 'Love Me or Leave Me' (1955)
    Nicknamed the 'Sweetheart of Columbia Records' and 'America's Sweetheart of Song'

Why she might be annoying:

    She dismissed her early recordings as corny, saying 'I sounded like a little girl on those records.'
    She married gangster Moe 'the Gimp' Snyder and made him her manager.
    She divorced Snyder and married her pianist, Myrl Alderman, who was nearly a decade her junior.
    Snyder shot and wounded Alderman (1938) and the scandal from the ensuing trial killed off her career.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She got started as a costume designer at a Chicago nightclub, and was discovered when she substituted for a sick tenor because she was the only one who could sing low enough.
    She was one of the leading torch singers of the 30s and her recordings of 'Ten Cents a Dance' and 'Love Me or Leave Me' were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (in 1999 and 2005, respectively).
    Snyder would slap and punch her.
    She later said of the film 'Love Me or Leave Me,' 'It's a shame that the most beautiful part of my life, my 28-year marriage to him [Myrl Alderman], was left out completely because that was the real highlight of my life story.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 24 Votes: 45.83% Annoying