Nelson Eddy born 29 June 1901

Nelson Ackerman Eddy (June 29, 1901 - March 6, 1967) was an American singer and movie star who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he co-starred with soprano Jeanette MacDonald. He was one of the first "crossover" stars, a superstar appealing both to shrieking bobby-soxers as well as opera purists and in his heyday was the highest paid singer in the world.

Born Nelson Ackerman Eddy and named for his paternal grandfather, he was the only child of an impoverished family. His father, Bill Eddy, was a drummer who performed in many bands, and a singer who performed in church choirs. His mother, Isabel Kendrick, was a southern belle born in Atlanta, Georgia, but raised in Philadelphia. Stationed in Georgia during the Spanish American War, Bill Eddy had become ill with typhoid fever and was nursed by Isabel, a volunteer nurse at the military camp. They were married the next year, with young Nelson born eighteen months later, their only child. Working as a toolmaker and machinist in Philadelphia and in Providence, Rhode Island, Bill Eddy never achieved much in life, and in 1915, he abandoned his family, becoming divorced two years later. His mother never remarried.

Young Nelson worked as a teenaged telephone operator for a Philadelphia Iron Foundry and later sold newspaper advertising. Working in local amateur musicals, he met Dr. Edouard Lippe and William Vilonat; both men coached him and gave him the money to study music in Paris and Dresden. He began to develop a singing career, and in 1933, while performing a concert recital with the Philadelphia Civic Opera, an assistant to famous movie director Louis B. Mayer saw him and signed him to a seven year contract with MGM.

When his first movie "Broadway to Hollywood" (1933) was less than memorable, Nelson contemplated returning to the concert stage. Nelson met Jeannette MacDonald for the first time at a dinner reception in 1933; for Nelson it was love at first sight, but for Jeannette, she had reservations about him, considering him rude and fresh. In 1933, he met up with an old girlfriend, Maybelle Marston, and had an affair with her, and she gave birth in June 1934 to a son, Jon Eddy. 

But life dramatically changed for Nelson in 1935, when Nelson was paired with Jeannette MacDonald in "Naughty Marietta" (1935), where their on-screen chemistry made them an instant hit with the audience, and made the film a block-buster. Nelson immediately dropped Maybelle, who had moved to Chicago to give birth to Jon, to pursue Jeannette. They were paired several more times, in "Rose Marie" (1936), "Maytime" (1937), "Girl of the Golden West" (1938), "Sweethearts" (1938), "New Moon" (1940), "Bitter Sweet" (1940), and "I Married an Angel" (1942; it was their last work together).

After Jeannette married actor Gene Raymond in 1937; a year and a half later, on January 19, 1939, Nelson married Anne Franklin, in a marriage that lasted 28 years until his death in 1967. Both Nelson and Jeannette were serious about their careers, and not willing to risk a scandal that would endanger their chosen careers, even though they loved each other deeply. Ideally suited for each other, they would become secret lovers, keeping it hidden from the Hollywood tabloids. The Hollywood publicity moguls would spin the myth that they had a pure, platonic love, both on-screen and off, that endures today; both would deny having any romance between them in their later years (when they were both married to other people). Their last film together was in 1942, and their careers took them in different directions.

                               

Eddy made more than 290 recordings between 1935 and 1964, singing songs from his films, plus opera, folk songs, popular songs, Gilbert and Sullivan, and traditional arias from his concert repertoire. Since both he and Jeanette MacDonald were under contract to RCA Victor between 1935 and 1938, this allowed several popular duets from their films. 
In 1938, he signed with Columbia Records, which ended MacDonald-Eddy duets until a special LP album the two made together in 1957.

In 1946, Nelson worked with Walt Disney to produce an animated feature "Make Mine Music" (also known as "Willie the Operatic Whale") about a whale who wanted to sing at the Met. This film, often overlooked, reveals a sense of humor about him that seldom crept into his other movies. In 1953, he began a successful nightclub routine with Gale Sherwood, which continued until his death in 1967. His last movie, made for television, was "The Desert Song" (1955).

Gale Sherwood & Eddy arriving in Sydney, 

Australia for the final tour there in 1967

 just weeks before Nelson’s death.

In March, 1967, Eddy was performing at the Sans Souci Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida when he was stricken on stage with a cerebral haemorrhage. According to Gore Vidal, in Myra Breckinridge, he was singing "Dardanella" when he collapsed. His singing partner, Gale Sherwood, and his accompanist, Ted Paxson, were at his side. He died a few hours later in the early hours of March 6, 1967, at the age of 65.

During his 40-year career, he earned three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (one each for film, recording, and radio), left his footprints in the wet cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater, earned three Gold records, and was invited to sing at the third inauguration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.    (Edited mainly from Wikipedia)

Here's Nelson Eddy in an excerpt of The Danny Thomas Show (S4 Ep 2) original airdate Oct. 8, 1956. Nelson sings "Great Day" then does a hilarious parody of a rock-n-roll singer.