Biography
Born on 16 January 1895 in Corsica and passing away on 19 March 1953 in New York, Bordoni earned acclaim as a vivacious performer often characterized as “petite, chic, coquettish and the epitome of French au-la-la.” After completing her schooling in Paris she made her first stage appearance in France during 1907 and reached Broadway five years later in the revue Broadway To Paris (1912). Following engagements in Parisian revues she returned to New York in 1915 to join Elsie Janis in the brief run (47 performances) of Miss Information, described as “a little comedy with a little music” whose score was supplied chiefly by Jerome Kern and Janis. She next appeared in Raymond Hubbell’s Hitchy-Koo revues of 1917 and 1918, then teamed with former vaudevillian Sam Bernard to portray four characters in As You Were (1920), billed as “a fantastic revue” drawn from Rip’s Parisian original Plus Ça Change. That production marked the first of three vehicles mounted by her husband at the time, E. Ray Goetz. In 1922 she introduced George Gershwin and Buddy De Sylva’s “Do It Again” within The French Doll, and six years later delivered Cole Porter’s suggestive “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love)” in his initial Broadway success, Paris (1928). Between these assignments she performed Avery Hopwood’s Little Miss Bluebeard in London. The 1938 operetta Great Lady, despite music by Frederick Loewe and co-stars Norma Terris, Helen Ford and Tullio Carminati, proved beyond rescue by Bordoni or her colleagues, yet her final Broadway appearance, Irving Berlin’s Louisiana Purchase (1940) alongside William Gaxton, Vera Zorina and Victor Moore, enjoyed a robust run of 444 performances. She later joined the 1942 screen adaptation and had earlier traveled to Hollywood to reprise her stage role in the 1929 film version of Paris, opposite Jack Buchanan. That same year she recorded “Just An Hour Of Love” for the all-star production The Show Of Shows. Among her other discs, “So This Is Love” (1924) and “This Means Nothing To Me” (1926) achieved notable success. In addition to musicals, Bordoni maintained a presence in straight plays, stock companies and vaudeville. Near the close of her career she assumed the part of Bloody Mary from Diosa Costello for the American touring company of South Pacific, which began its nearly five-year journey in 1950.