Jessica Dragonette Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

Jessica Dragonette (February 14, 1900-March 18, 1980) was a singer who became popular on American radio and was active in the World War II effort. Dragonette was born around 1900 in India. There is some uncertainty as to the exact date of birth; her birth records were reportedly destroyed in a fire. The Social Security Death Index cites 1900 as her year of birth. An orphan, she was raised in a convent, Georgian Court College, in Lakewood, New Jersey, where she graduated in 1923, according to the list of the college's alumni; if she was 18 then this would place her birth date as actually in... MORE

Jessica Dragonette (February 14, 1900-March 18, 1980) was a singer who became popular on American radio and was active in the World War II effort. Dragonette was born around 1900 in India. There is some uncertainty as to the exact date of birth; her birth records were reportedly destroyed in a fire. The Social Security Death Index cites 1900 as her year of birth. An orphan, she was raised in a convent, Georgian Court College, in Lakewood, New Jersey, where she graduated in 1923, according to the list of the college's alumni; if she was 18 then this would place her birth date as actually in 1905. She began singing on radio in 1926, and during her 22-year radio career, she helped to popularize operettas and semi-classical music. An admiring press dubbed her the "Princess of Song", a nickname she later would use to publicize concert events. She was the star of the "Philco Hour" on NBC from 1927 to 1930. (Dunning, 543) She then became the star of the Cities Service Concerts program, which she joined in 1930. By 1935, a listeners' poll voted her radio's most popular female vocalist. (Fraser, B15) Dragonette sang in a segment of the film The Big Broadcast of 1936, on the condition that LESS