Ellen Jane Froman (November 10, 1907 – April 22, 1980) was an American actress and singer. During her 30-year career, she performed on stage, radio, and television despite chronic health problems due to injuries sustained in a 1943 plane crash.
Her life story was told in the 1952 film With a Song in My Heart. She was portrayed by Susan Hayward, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.
Ellen Jane Froman was born in University City, Missouri, the daughter of Anna Tillman (née Barcafer) and Elmer Ellsworth Froman. Her childhood and adolescence were spent in the small Missouri town of Clinton. When Froman was about five years old, her father mysteriously disappeared and was never heard from again, although it is known he died in Los Angeles in 1936. Her mother later remarried, to William Hetzler. Froman developed a stutter around this time, which stayed with her all of her life, except when she sang.
In 1919, Froman and her mother moved to Columbia, Missouri, which she considered her hometown. In 1921, at age 13, Froman and another young lady gave a piano-and-song recital at Christian College, now Columbia College (Missouri) (where her mother was director of vocal studies). In 1926, Froman graduated from Christian College and later attended the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Two years later in 1928, Froman moved to Cincinnati, where she studied voice at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music through 1930.
Although Froman had classical voice training, early in her career she was drawn to the music of the era's songwriters, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin, who were inspiring a resurgence in popular music. She met vaudeville performer Don Ross when they auditioned for the same job at WLW radio station in Cincinnati. She first appeared on WLW October 9, 1929 "on the King Taste night club." Froman made her national network debut on NBC July 31, 1931. She was heard on the Florsheim Frolic program, broadcast on Sunday afternoons. Froman and Ross had their own program beginning July 4, 1937. The 13-episode series on the NBC Red Network was a summer replacement for The Jack Benny Program.
There, Froman joined Henry Thies' orchestra and was a featured vocalist on a number of Thies' RCA Victor recordings. Convinced that she was star material, Ross became Froman's unofficial manager and persuaded her to move to Chicago, where he worked for NBC radio. They married in 1933. That year, Froman moved to New York City, where she appeared on Chesterfield's Music that Satisfies radio program with Bing Crosby. On January 4, 1948, Froman joined the cast of The Pause That Refreshes, a Sunday evening music program sponsored by Coca-Cola on CBS. It was her first regular role on radio after a devastating U.S.O. plane crash (see below).
In 1933, Froman joined the Ziegfeld Follies, where she was befriended by Fannie Brice. In 1934, at age 27, she became the top-polled "girl singer." The famous composer and producer Billy Rose, when asked to name the top ten female singers, is reported to have replied, "Jane Froman and nine others." Radio listeners apparently agreed with Rose, because Froman emerged atop a nationwide poll as "the number-one female singer on the radio" in 1934.
Froman is credited with three movies, Kissing Time (1933), Stars Over Broadway (1935), and Radio City Revels (1938). Beginning October 15, 1952, she was host of Jane Froman's U.S.A. Canteen, a 30-minute CBS Saturday program in which "talented members of the armed services appeared with Froman." On December 30, 1952, the length was reduced to 15 minutes with a twice-a-week schedule on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The title was changed to The Jane Froman Show in late 1953. It ended June 23, 1955.
The very first hit song to be introduced on television, I Believe, was written for Froman by the show's musicians, Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl, and Al Stillman, and earned her a gold record in 1953.
Froman was severely injured as the result of the crash on February 22, 1943 of the Yankee Clipper, a Boeing 314 flying boat operated by Pan Am. She was travelling on the Yankee Clipper as a member of a group of USO performers. As the flying boat was banking into a descending turn prior to landing on the Tagus River in Lisbon, Portugal its left wingtip touched the surface, causing it to dig in and crash into the river. One of 15 survivors of the 39 on board, Froman sustained severe injuries: a cut below the left knee nearly severing her leg, multiple fractures of her right arm, and a compound fracture of her right leg that doctors threatened to amputate. Before flight, Froman had given her seat to another singer, Tamara Drasin, who was killed in the crash, an action which Froman's biographer Ilene Stone said "bothered her her whole life".
The fourth officer, John Curtis Burn, whose back was broken in the crash, fashioned a makeshift raft from portions of the wrecked plane to help keep himself and Froman afloat. After being rescued, they were sent to the same convalescent home, where they struggled through their long recoveries together.
Less than a year after the crash, Froman returned to Broadway to perform in a revue, Artists and Models. She wore a leg brace and used a wheelchair after having had 13 operations for her injuries. She underwent 39 operations over the years and fought amputation and wore a leg brace the remainder of her life.
Froman returned to Europe and entertained American troops in 1945. Despite having to walk with crutches, she gave 95 shows throughout Europe. During the late 1940s, Froman became addicted to painkillers and when they did not ease the pain, supplementing them with alcohol. She eventually overcame both addictions. During this time, Froman struggled with her mental health. In 1949 she entered the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas to be treated for depression. She greatly benefitted from her six-month stay at the clinic.
Froman was a celebrity guest on the March 1, 1953, episode of What's My Line, when panelist Hal Block reminded her that he was supposed to be on the same flight, which she confirmed.
Jane Froman and fellow survivor Gypsy Markoff sued Pan American using the services of lawyer Harry A. Gair, a pioneer in the field of aviation crash litigation.
Under the compensatory provisions of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act a private law passed in 1958 awarded Jane Froman $23,403.58 as compensation for her injuries received in the crash.
With a Song in My Heart and later career
Froman's life story was the subject of the movie With a Song in My Heart (1952), starring Susan Hayward as Jane. Froman was deeply involved in the film's production: she supplied Hayward's singing voice and served as the film's technical advisor. The Capitol album of songs from the movie, also titled With a Song in My Heart, was the number one best-selling album of 1952 and remained in the catalogue for many years. In 2003 DRG Records reissued the album on a CD along with the 1952 revival cast album of Pal Joey, in which Froman sang the role made famous by Vivienne Segal, Vera Simpson.