Obit: Frances Langford @ 92...Blanche Bickerson on radio's "The Bickersons"

[CrankyYankee]

(From the "Boston Globe")

LOS ANGELES -- Frances Langford, the 1930s and '40s singer known for her warmth and rich voice who traveled widely with Bob Hope entertaining troops in World War II, died yesterday at her home in Jensen Beach, Fla. She was 92.

Ms. Langford, who dropped out of Hollywood in the mid-1950s...died of congestive heart failure, her lawyer, Evans Crary Jr., said.

Ms. Langford's biggest hit was ''I'm in the Mood for Love." Her last film role was in 1954 when she appeared as herself in "The Glenn Miller Story."

Ms. Langford also could be heard for many years on the radio, including several seasons during the late 1940s and early '50s in the role of Blanche Bickerson to Don Ameche's John Bickerson on the comedy show ''The Bickersons," about a relentlessly squabbling couple.

Yet it was her role as an entertainer for GIs abroad as well as for those who returned home injured that earned her a lasting reputation as a star whose patriotism and compassion exceeded her desire to burnish her own image. Ms. Langford also entertained troops during the Korean conflict and the Vietnam War.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ob...12/frances_langford_sang_for_wwii_gis?mode=PF

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[MikefromDelaware]

Frances Langford and Don Ameche made a great comedy team in the Bickerson's. As Ms. Langford had a great singing voice, for which she was best known, it was interesting to hear this song bird sound like a carping harpie as nagging Blanche Bickerson. Those are funny shows. If you can find them on tape/CD somewhere they are worth buying, their humor is timeless. I bought a vinyl album of the Bickerson's a number of years ago from one of the radio nostalgia companies. So, my guess is the Bickerson's shows are still available through one of those sources. Of course now with Ms. Langford's passing, it wouldn't surprise me to see a CD album of some of her recorded music released and available in the Borders, Barnes and Noble stores.

> (From the "Boston Globe")
>
> LOS ANGELES -- Frances Langford, the 1930s and '40s singer
> known for her warmth and rich voice who traveled widely with
> Bob Hope entertaining troops in World War II, died yesterday
> at her home in Jensen Beach, Fla. She was 92.
>
> Ms. Langford, who dropped out of Hollywood in the
> mid-1950s...died of congestive heart failure, her lawyer,
> Evans Crary Jr., said.
>
> Ms. Langford's biggest hit was ''I'm in the Mood for Love."
> Her last film role was in 1954 when she appeared as herself
> in "The Glenn Miller Story."
>
> Ms. Langford also could be heard for many years on the
> radio, including several seasons during the late 1940s and
> early '50s in the role of Blanche Bickerson to Don Ameche's
> John Bickerson on the comedy show ''The Bickersons," about a
> relentlessly squabbling couple.
>
> Yet it was her role as an entertainer for GIs abroad as well
> as for those who returned home injured that earned her a
> lasting reputation as a star whose patriotism and compassion
> exceeded her desire to burnish her own image. Ms. Langford
> also entertained troops during the Korean conflict and the
> Vietnam War.
>
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/ar> ticles/2005/07/12/frances_langford_sang_for_wwii_gis?mode=PF
>

 

[BlueHen]

> Frances Langford and Don Ameche made a great comedy team in
> the Bickerson's. As Ms. Langford had a great singing voice,
> for which she was best known, it was interesting to hear
> this song bird sound like a carping harpie as nagging
> Blanche Bickerson. Those are funny shows. If you can find
> them on tape/CD somewhere they are worth buying, their humor
> is timeless. I bought a vinyl album of the Bickerson's a
> number of years ago from one of the radio nostalgia
> companies. So, my guess is the Bickerson's shows are still
> available through one of those sources.

I was able to get The Bickersons and The Bickersons Fight Back together on 1 CD from Collectors Choice Music.