Risë Stevens, 1913-2013

The death has been announced of Risë Stevens who died in her New York City apartment on Wednesday at the age of 99. Risë (two syllables; note the diacritical mark on the ë) is one of those names that I first probably heard on the local PBS channel, as Stevens was most famous for being an opera singer. It's also a name that was easy to remember simply because it's so odd. Since I only recognized the name as an opera singer, it was a bit of a surprise to me when I first sat down to watch Going My Way (a movie I intensely dislike, but that's another story) and saw that she was prominently mentioned in the opening credits. In fact, Stevens' film career was sparse: besides Going My Way, she also provided a voice for an animated version of the Oz story, and starred opposite Nelson Eddy in the 1941 version of The Chocolate Soldier. But even for that little she still deserves to be remembered for the Hollywood portion of her career.