Gladys Swarthout was a renowned Metropolitan Opera singer who transitioned to film stardom during the 1930s, following in the footsteps of her operatic peers Jeanette MacDonald, Lily Pons, and Grace Moore. Born in 1900 in Deepwater, Missouri, an Ozark mining town, Gladys was a delicate and sickly child who showed great promise in singing at an early age. She began her singing career as a local church soloist at the age of 13 and later attended the Bush Conservatory of Music in Chicago, where she received a Doctorate of Music in 1923.
Gladys joined the Chicago Civic Opera Company the following year and learned over 22 roles. She then trained and performed in Europe in the late 1920s, making her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1929 with "La Gioconda". As one of the Met's finest mezzos, her vast repertoire included "Norma", "Peter Ibbetson", "La Forza del Destino", "Mignon", and "Carmen", which became her signature role.
Gladys signed a lucrative deal with Paramount Pictures and made her film debut in the dual roles of "Rose of the Rancho" (1936),but the film was unsuccessful. Her subsequent films, including "Give Us This Night" (1936),"Champagne Waltz" (1937),"Romance in the Dark" (1938),and "Ambush" (1939),also failed to impress at the box office.
However, Gladys found great success on the radio, becoming the #1 classical radio singer during the war years. She had her own show in New York City, singing everything from arias to spirituals to standards, and was named the #1 classical radio singer throughout the war years. Despite her success, Gladys was forced into retirement by 1957 due to life-threatening heart problems.
Gladys's personal life was marked by happiness, with her second husband, opera singer Frank Chapman, giving up his own career to manage hers. They divided their time between a Connecticut home and a villa in Italy. Chapman died in 1966, and Gladys died of her heart ailment three years later, childless and at the age of 77.
