b. Frances Victoria Schenck, 16 December 1908, East Orange, New Jersey, USA, d. 29 April 1984, Windsor, England. This actress and singer's glamorous image and appealing voice, with its provocative, squeaky inflection, made her an incandescent star of the London stage in the 30s and 40s. While appearing as a dancer in Texas Guinan's famous New York speakeasy in 1924, Frances Schenck was spotted by entrepreneur Beaumont Alexander, who changed her name and took her to London. In 1925 he managed to get her into the chorus of Rose-Marie at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and two yea...