O'Connell, Helen

▪ 1994

      U.S. singer (b. May 23, 1920, Lima, Ohio—d. Sept. 9, 1993, San Diego, Calif.), was still a teenager when she joined (1939) Jimmy Dorsey's big band, and she became an overnight sensation after recording “Green Eyes” with crooner Bob Eberly. O'Connell's cool renditions of such other songs as “Tangerine,” “Amapola,” “Jim,” “I Remember You,” and “When Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry” kept her in the limelight. She also appeared with the orchestras of Artie Shaw, Woody Herman, and Glenn Miller until 1943, when she temporarily retired from show business to raise a family. O'Connell was later visible on television in the 1950s as host of “TV's Top Tunes,” as a featured vocalist on the “Russ Morgan Show,” as Dave Garroway's sidekick on the “Today Show,” and as the star of her own twice-weekly 15-minute program, “The Helen O'Connell Show.” For nine years she was also cohost, with Bob Barker, of the “Miss Universe Pageant.” From 1978 to 1979 O'Connell toured with singers Rosemary Clooney, Margaret Whiting, and Rose Marie in a highly successful concert revue, “4 Girls 4.”

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