German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8791/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Fox.
Spanish postcard by MC, Barcelona, no. 363.
British cigarette card in the Film Star series by Carreras LTD, London, no. 54.
Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 2786.
Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 3887.
Her beginnings in show business
Alice Faye was born Alice Jeane Leppert on the 5th of May 1915 in New York, U.S.A.
At the end of the 1920s, she began her show business career as a chorus girl.
After two years with the Chester Hale dance unit, she worked for some time as a dancer and singer for Nils T. Granlund, a noted entertainment industry entrepreneur.
Then, from September 1931 to March 1932, she was in the chorus of the 'George White’s Scandals' on Broadway.
She was noticed by famous crooner Rudy Vallee, who was one of the stars of the show, and soon joined his orchestra. She toured with him and also sang on his radio program, 'The Fleischmann Hour'.
Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 2427.
Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 2872.
Belgian postcard by P.E. Edition, no. 426.
Spanish postcard by Dümmatzen, no. 394. Foto: Fox.
French postcard by Erpé, no. 734.
A quick success in the movies
At the end of 1933, Fox decided to film an adaptation of 'George White Scandals' with Rudy Vallee and Alice Faye was signed for one singing number.
When Lilian Harvey, who had the female lead, withdrew from the cast, Fox replaced her with Alice. Pleased by her performance in George white Scandals (1934), Fox offered her a contract.
Her warm and deep contralto voice quickly caught on with movie audiences and she gathered a following in films such as 365 Nights in Hollywood (1934), George White’s 1935 Scandals (1935) and Music Is Magic (1935). She got a big break in King of Burlesque (1936), a carefully produced musical which gave her a role which was probably her best to date.
In her first films, Alice Faye had been given a Jean Harlow look, with plucked and pencilled eyebrows, platinum blonde hair and heavy makeup. In the Shirley Temple vehicle Poor Little Rich Girl (1936), her hair was toned down to a more natural blonde colour and, in Sing, Baby, Sing (1936), Fox’s beauty department began to allow her eyebrows to grow more naturally.
A new Alice Faye image emerged, warmer and softer. In her second and last film with Shirley Temple, Stowaway (1936), she was finally stripped of the bombshell guise and exuded sympathy and grace. This more appropriate screen persona would remain with her until the end of her movie career.
Italian postcard by Alterocca, Terni, no. 1629. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
German cigarette card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie series by Ross Verlag for Kur Mark cigarettes, no. 167.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. FS46. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Alice Faye, Shirley Temple and Jack Haley in The Poor Little Rich Girl (Irving Cummings, 1936).
British postcard by Art Photo, no. 136. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. FS89. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Alice Faye and Shirley Temple in Stowaway (William A. Seiter, 1936).
Queen of Musicals at 20th Century Fox
Over a few years, Alice Faye had become one of 20th Century Fox’s top stars. Her first 1937 film was On the Avenue (1937), a lavish production, with an Irving Berlin score. It was followed by such hits as Wake Up and Live (1937), You Can’t Have Everything (1937) and Hollywood Cavalcade (1939), which was her initial Technicolor production.
She also co-starred with Tyrone Power in three high-grossers at the box office: In Old Chicago (1938), in a role intended for Jean Harlow, Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938) and Rose of Washington Square (1939). She had two more dramatic roles in Tail Spin (1939) and Barricade (1939), which were not typical Alice Faye vehicles.
By the beginning of the 1940s, Fox Studios had added another blonde musical queen, Betty Grable, to their contract players. But Alice and Betty’s screen personalities were different. There wasn’t any rivalry between them and they made a perfect team when they co-starred in the crowd-pleaser Tin Pan Alley (1940).
At the peak of her successful screen career, Alice Faye starred in successful A-grade musicals such as Lillian Russell (1940), That Night in Rio (1941), The Great American Broadcast (1941) and Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943).
In the latest, she introduced her signature tune, 'You’ll Never Know', which won the Oscar for Best Song. After Busby Berkeley’s The Gang’s All Here (1943), she appeared as herself in Four Jills in a Jeep (1944), in which she sang again 'You’ll Never Know'.
French postcard by A.N. Paris, no. 1187. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Dutch postcard by J.S.A. Alice Faye and George Murphy in You’re a Sweetheart (David Butler, 1937). Collection: Marlène Pilaete.
Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 2317.
Latvian postcard by EMBR, no. 3328. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Alice Faye and Tyrone Power in In Old Chicago (Henry King, 1938).
Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 3684. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Leaving Fox, bouncing back on radio and Alice Faye on TV
In 1945, as a change of pace, Alice Faye chose to appear in a drama directed by Otto Preminger, Fallen Angel. When she saw the final cut, Alice realised that several of her best scenes had been edited out to expand Linda Darnell’s sultry role. Deeply hurt, she decided to leave 20th Century Fox.
From 1946 to 1948, Alice and her husband, Phil Harris, hosted the weekly radio program « The Fitchband Wagon » by playing fictionalized versions of themselves. This evolved into the family sitcom « The Phil Harris - Alice Faye Show », in which they starred from 1948 to 1954.
In 1959, she appeared for the first time on television in The Phil Harris Show. Later, she appeared in other TV shows such as The Perry Como Show in 1962, The Jack Paar Show in 1963, The Hollywood Palace in 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1967 and The Dean Martin Show in 1966 and 1968.
Alice Faye was also featured in one episode of the series The Love Boat in 1980.
In 1984, Alice, who always had been very popular in England, was the principal guest of the British adaptation of the American series This Is Your Life.
French postcard by Editions et Publications Cinématographiques (EPC), no. 207.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A2921/1, 1939-1940. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Italian postcard by Fotocelere Torino, no. 107. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A3181/1, 1941-1944 Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Italian postcard by Alterocca, Terni, no. 3979. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Movie and stage comebacks and Pfizer spokesperson
In 1962, Alice Faye came back to the screen in State Fair (1962) but she didn’t enjoy the experience and referred to it as a mistake. Walter Lang, whom she knew from her Fox days, was originally slated to direct it but was ultimately replaced by José Ferrer, who proved to be an odd choice for a piece of Americana such as State Fair.
Furthermore, she also had hopes that Don Ameche, who had been her co-star in several films, would be cast to play her husband but the role went to Tom Ewell. She later had a cameo role in Won, Ton, Ton, The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) and played the brief part of a kind-hearted waitress in The Magic of Lassie (1978), in which she hummed a few bars of the song 'A Rose is Not a Rose'.
Her screen career ended with Every Girl Should Have One (1978) but it seems that it received no official release in theaters at the time. At the end of 1973, she started a successful U.S. tour in the musical 'Good News', which lasted about one year. Unfortunately, it flopped on Broadway with only sixteen performances from the 23rd of December 1974 to the 4th of January 1975. Later, she again appeared in 'Good News' in a 1975 summer tour.
From 1984 to 1991, Alice Faye acted as spokesperson for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, an experience she found rewarding. The program she worked for was especially aimed at senior citizens, insisting on good health practices to help people feel better when they grow older.
She went on the road all around the U.S.A., making personal appearances at senior events and doing radio and TV work. In 1985, Pfizer produced a 40-minute commercial promotional film featuring Alice called We Still Are. It combined health advice with an overview of her movie career.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3181/2, 1941-1944. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Spanish postcard by Infonal.
Italian postcard by GB Falci Editore, Milano, no. 41. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Small Spanish promotional card. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Alice Faye, Tyrone Power and Al Jolson in Rose of Washington Square (Gregory Ratoff, 1939).
American postcard by Western Publishing & Novelty Co., Los Angeles, no. 846. Caption: Residence of Alice Faye, Beverly Hills, California.
Her private life
At the time of her association with Rudy Vallee, there were rumours of an affair between them. His wife even named Alice Faye as one of three co-respondents in her divorce suit in January 1934.
Alice always denied any romantic relationship between her and Vallee. In 1937, she married singer Tony Martin and divorced in March 1941.
That same year, she remarried with bandleader Phil Harris. She gave birth to two daughters, Alice in 1942 and Phyllis in 1944.
It was a happy union, which lasted until Harris died in 1995.
After the loss of her husband, Alice Faye’s health deteriorated and she died of stomach cancer on the 9th of May 1998.
Dutch postcard by J.S.A., no. 28. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Spanish postcard in the series 1037. Alice Faye and Henry Fonda in Lillian Russell (Irving Cummings, 1940).
Portuguese postcard by Ediçao Trevo. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Spanish postcard by Archivo Bermejo, no. 457.
British postcard by Picturegoer, no. W87. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Spanish postcard by Sobe, no. 481. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Alice Faye and John Payne in Week-End in Havana (Walter Lang, 1941).
Spanish postcard by Exclusivas Sobe, no. 43.
Text and postcards: Marlene Pilaete.
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