Nelson Eddy

Nelson Eddy (1901-1967) was a popular American singer and actor. He began his career in radio, with a regular berth on Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy's Chase and Sanbourne Hour. During in an October 1933 broadcast, many listeners, impatient with Eddy's singing interval and anxious to get back to the comedy portions, changed their radio dials to CBS, and thus caught Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" broadcast halfway through, starting a panic.

Although Eddy was operatically trained (and despite numerous concert recitals), he became known as a popular singer, with his rendition of "Shortnin' Bread," and was cast opposite Jeanette MacDonald in many cinematic operettas. The pair debuted in Naughty Marietta (1935), a romantic match which was parodied by Kermit and Miss Piggy in The Miss Piggy Calendar 1982. Their second film, Rose-Marie from the following year, was likewise spoofed, on Sesame Street, with Nelson and Jeanette. One of his last film assignments was providing the narration and multiple singing character roles for the 1946 Disney animated feature Make Mine Music.