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Betty Noyes

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Betty Noyes was an American singer and actress, born on 11 October 1912 and died on 24 December 1987 in Los Angeles. Her name never became big, but her voice has been heard by millions of people. She began in 1938 in The Debutantes, a trio in the big band of Ted Fio Rito. In 1947 she sang in the quartet The Girlfriends, which was regularly heard on NBC radio programmes, including with Bing Crosby. She then became a singer whom studios liked to call first, one of the regular voices behind Hollywood musicals.

Music and breakthrough

Her best-known work is partly invisible. In the 1952 film Singin' in the Rain she sang the numbers Would You and You Are My Lucky Star in place of Debbie Reynolds. That is remarkable, because Reynolds's character is herself, in the film, a ghost singer who sings for another actress. So Noyes sang the voice of a character who lends a voice. She also sang Baby Mine in Dumbo from 1941, uncredited, and that song was nominated for an Academy Award. She can also be heard in The Wizard of Oz, White Christmas and The Sound of Music, and she sang in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers for Ruta Kilmonis. On screen she played small roles, including in an episode of I Love Lucy.

Influence

Noyes shows how film musicals worked: the faces belonged to actors, the voices sometimes to studio singers. Without them many well-known film songs would not have sounded the way they do.

Listening

Listening tip. Watch and listen to Singin' in the Rain from 1952 and notice the singing in You Are My Lucky Star. Once you know that this is not the voice of Debbie Reynolds but that of Betty Noyes, you hear the film differently.
Categories: Artists