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A popular singer of extraordinary versatility and longevity, Elisabeth Welch was a black American actress/singer whose 50-year career took her from the streets of New York to success in London. Born in New York City, Welch trained for the stage and made her debut in the theatrical revue Blackbirds of 1928. She later appeared on stage in Paris and then returned to New York in a show called The New Yorkers, where her featured number was the Cole Porter song "Love for Sale," which she introduced to New York audiences. Welch made her London debut in 1933 with Dark Doings, and she followed this up later that same year in the Cole Porter show Nymph Errant. Welch was so well received and, in turn, so liberated by the reception she found in England, that she made it her home permanently, and enjoyed a three-tiered career on stage, radio, and in movies, appearing in seven feature films between 1934 and 1945. Most notable of the films were when she starred opposite Paul Robeson in a pair of mov...