Alice Faye was born Alice Jeane Leppert in New York City on May 15, 1915. The Chester Hale Vaudeville Unit is where she began her career at an early age, in the 1920s and 1930s. She changed her last name to Faye at this time as well.
It was in The Fleischmann Hour in 1932 that she began her old radio shows career as a singer. She remained doing old radio shows shows for another two years. Her career would never be the same again once she got the role of a lifetime by chance.
Alice was known for introducing songs by important composers and turning them into instant hits. The US voted her as the nation's number 1 Song Plugger. She introduced songs from Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter to name a few.
Faye hit the big time when she landed the lead role in George White's Scandals. She soon catapulted into stardom.
Between 1935-40 she starred in many productions by 20th Century-Fox such as Alexander's Ragtime Band. Phil Harris soon joined her in marriage in 1941. It was the second marriage for both.
Harris gave her two children, and by 1946 the two were invited to star in Fitch Bandwagon. Soon enough, the Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show was formed, where the two performed in a range of musical and comedy numbers.
Until 1954, the show just kept on going. Many offers for television appearances soon came to Faye. Alice guested in the Dean Marin Show and Love Boat, amongst other shows. She even re-united with 20th Century Fox to star in State Fair.
The Good News theater production went on tour, and Alice joined lead actors John Payne and Stubby Kaye for the show in the 1970s. From 1984-1991 she appeared as a Good Health Ambassador for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. She also wrote the book Getting Older, Staying Young. She remained married to Harris for the rest of his life, and the marriage lasted for 51 years.
However, Harris suffered from a fatal heart attach in 1995. Her family including her daughters were at her side when she died just three years later from a fight with stomach cancer.
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