My kind of Diva - Greta Keller

A darkened room, a small stage, a single spotlight, cigar smoke and the hint of absinthe.
Welcome - Greta Keller!

I stumbled on her music while on a rather esoteric YouTube search.
I thought then that I had never heard of her before.

Loved her voice! Greta was definitely worth a further listening and a little research.

It turns out she was responsible for one of the most touching songs in the film Cabaret. in It was she who sang the beautiful song "Heirart" (Married).  ----

Also it was her version of 'Blue Moon' recorded in 1935 that was included in the BBC TV series Pennies from Heaven starring Bob Hoskins:

First called "The Great Lady Of Chanson" in her native Vienna, the nickname followed her to London and America.
In fact Greta was the role model for how Marlene Dietrich developed her own voice.
She also appeared on stage with Marlene Dietrich on Broadway and spent many years in the United States, notably in the club room at the Waldorf.

While living in America her husband was murdered in 1943, two weeks after finishing a major role in the Republic serial The Masked Marvel. The murder was never solved.
No stranger to scandal and gossip, there were rumours of of affairs with Howard Hughes and an unknown actor during her marriage.  It must have been a very difficult time for Greta and unfortunately not long after the murder of her husband their child was stillborn.

It took some time for her to recover from these events, but she restarted her career in Switzerland, then moved on to Vienna, Berlin and then back to New York.

Rod McKuen met her in Vienna in the 70s. He wrote the English lyric "If You Go Away" to Jacques Brel's "Ne Me Quitte Pas," which she always sang in her stage appearances after that.

Greta lived, worked, and traveled with her last partner, Wolfgang Nebmaier until her death in November 1977
Her records are still selling - I checked today and Amazon has four pages of CDs on sale by Greta.

Well I did say that 'My kind of Diva' might be the beginning of a series!

Hold on to your hats - 1950's France is the next stop.

ttfn