Portia Nelson born 27 May 1920

Portia Nelson (May 27, 1920 – March 6, 2001) was an American popular singer, songwriter, actress, and author. She was best known for her appearances in 1950s cabarets, where she sang soprano.

Portia Nelson was born Betty Mae Nelson on March 27, 1920 in Brigham City, Utah. The youngest of nine children (four of whom died before she was born), she grew up in humble circumstances. Growing up on a family farm, Nelson taught herself to play the piano. She attended Weber College in Ogden, Utah, where she performed in shows and wrote songs and sketches. Nelson became famous going by a nickname she'd taken from a popular radio show, Portia Saves the World.

After college, Nelson went to Los Angeles, where she joined the King Sisters musical group, as a member of the band. Through the King Sisters, she made connections at Universal Studios, where she worked as a publicist. At the age of 23 she was discovered singing for free in a Los Angeles nightclub, by CBS head Walter Gross and soon signed a contract with Columbia Records.

During the 1950s Nelson was primarily a cabaret singer, performing successful engagements at such New York clubs as The Blue Angel, Bon Soir, and Le Ruban Bleu. Her recording career was also taking off. She was the first to record a standard by Mr. Howard, ''Fly Me to the Moon,'' when it still went under the title ''In Other Words.'' In 1952 and 1953 she was a protégée of the CBS Records executive Goddard Lieberson, who featured her on five Columbia albums that revived Broadway shows with their original orchestrations: Oklahoma!, Roberta, On Your Toes, and The Boys from Syracuse.

                    

Nelson recorded several solo albums during the 1950s, that were to become classics of their kind such as Love Songs for a Late Evening (1952), Autumn Leaves (1956), Let Me Love You: Portia Nelson Sings the Love Songs of Bart Howard (1956), and Sunday in New York (1959). She also produced a few of her own albums, as well as Elaine Stritch’s Stritch (1955). As a singer she injected even the most wistful song with an indefatigable verve and optimism. She blended the cultivation of a Broadway soprano with a more intimate cabaret style defined by Mabel Mercer.

Nelson’s Broadway career began with one of Broadway's most prestigious flops, The Golden Apple (1954). The musical, with a score by Jerome Moross and John Latouche, updated Homer’s great epics to turn of the century Washington State. It only ran a few months but has developed into a cult favourite of many theatre fans. Nelson played Miss Minerva Oliver. Her only other Broadway appearance was in the short-lived revue, Almost Crazy (1955). In 1976, Nelson performed in another musical, destined for a cult following, The Baker’s Wife. The Stephen Schwartz musical closed out of town and never made it to Broadway, but many of the songs, especially “Meadowlark” have become cabaret standards. Nelson appeared in regional productions of Apollo and Miss Agnes, and The Boyfriend.

Nelson’s most remembered film role was Sister Berthe in The Sound of Music (1965). She appeared in such films as The Trouble with Angels (1966), Doctor Dolittle (1967), and The Other (1972). She was also on a few television series, most notably All My Children, and was in many television commercials. She also appeared in the Ray Simpson musical "Can't Stop the Music" (1980) and "Rage of Angels" (1982-83). She also found the time to work as vocal coach for stars like Jane Russell and Rock Hudson.

Nelson with Jane Russell

Nelson began writing songs in high school and often performed her own compositions in her cabaret acts. Her songs were also covered by other prominent performers such as Jane Russell, Jo Stafford and Debbie Reynolds. Her most famous composition, ''Make a Rainbow,'' was sung by Marilyn Horne at President Bill Clinton's 1993 inaugural ceremony.

In 1996 she released an album of her songs, Portia Nelson: This Life: Her Songs and Her Friend. In 1997 she won the MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs) Award for Song of the Year for “As I Remember Him.” She wrote book, concept, music, and lyrics for the musicals The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Sleeping Beauty, and The Happy Prince.

After her first bout with breast cancer during the late 1970s Nelson wrote a book called There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk, which she described as “a series of thoughts in free verse.” The first poem, from which the book takes its title, has been popular with addiction recovery, self-help, and therapy groups since its publication. In the early 1990s, she suffered from throat and tongue cancer – which Nelson, who never smoked, blamed on her years of singing in smoky nightclubs – which robbed her of her soprano voice. By early 2001 her cancer had recurred, and the singer died in her Manhattan apartment on March 6, 2001. She was 80 years old.

(Edited from New York Library archives & NY Times)