Ethel Smith

Ethel Smith earned widespread recognition as the "First Lady of the Hammond Organ," yet her lasting renown rests chiefly on a mid-1940s recording of the traditional Argentine piece "Tico-Tico" that approached two million copies sold. Born Ethel Goldsmith in Pittsburgh on November 22, 1910, she trained in both music and linguistics at Carnegie Tech; after completing her degree she took a piano post at a neighborhood theater. A touring Schubert production that reached the Iron City recruited her, launching a 28-week national circuit that eventually deposited her in California. There, on a Hollywood studio lot, she first encountered the Hammond electric organ; mastery followed with striking speed, securing a featured 1940 engagement at New York's St. Regis Hotel. While appearing at the St. Regis she received an overture from Hammond Studios on behalf of Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Club, which sought a female organist for a 26-week contract. She ultimately spent roughly a year in Brazil, absorbing its regional musical idioms and customs.

During a walk through one of Rio's rougher neighborhoods she overheard a dancehall ensemble playing an unfamiliar melody; the musicians described it as a traditional Argentine favorite whose title and composer remained unknown. She christened the piece "Tico-Tico," added it to her set, and watched it become a local favorite. The Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor accelerated her return to the United States and the St. Regis, where George Washington Hill, head of the American Tobacco Company and an admirer of her Copacabana performances, offered her a lucrative spot on the radio sensation Your Hit Parade; she accepted and quickly ranked among the program's highest-paid artists. In 1944 she cut "Tico-Tico," which emerged as one of the decade's strongest sellers, and made her screen bow opposite Esther Williams in Bathing Beauty. Additional film credits followed with George White's Scandals in 1945 and Cuban Pete in 1946, the latter starring Desi Arnaz.

Her vivid dresses, signature hats, and trademark high heels projected a glamorous presence, highlighted in 1945 when she wed actor Ralph Bellamy during his Broadway run in State of the Union. The marriage ended two years later, prompting her renewed concentration on performance; she attained near-equal command of the guitar. Although no subsequent release matched the commercial scale of "Tico-Tico," she maintained an active touring schedule through the 1950s and 1960s while taking non-musical parts in modest off-Broadway productions. A 1969 musical adaptation of Tom Jones provided a brief additional stage engagement. At the start of the following decade she retired from the road and settled in Palm Beach, Florida, where she continued to perform at local benefits and private functions well into her eighties. Smith died on May 10, 1996, at the age of 85.