Tamara Drasin

Tamara Drasin (c. 1905 – 22 February 1943), often credited as simply Tamara, was a singer and actress who introduced the song "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"[1] in the 1933 Broadway musical Roberta.

Tamara
Background information
Birth nameTamara Drasin
Bornc. 1905
Sorochintsï, Russian Empire
Died22 February 1943 (aged c.37)
near Lisbon, Portugal
Genresjazz
Occupation(s)Actress, singer
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active1927–1943

Tamara Drasin is sometimes confused with two other performers of the 1930s musical era, the dancers Tamara Geva and Tamara Toumanova.

Early life

Drasin was born around 1905 in the village of Sorochintsï in Poltava Governorate (modern-day Ukraine), the daughter of Hinda "Eda" and Boris Drasin, a tailor. Her family moved to the U.S. in 1922.[2]

Stage career

With her dark, exotic looks and throbbing vocal style, Drasin was ideal casting material for European characters in musicals of the 1930s. In Free for All, she was Marishka Tarasov; in Roberta, she was Princess Stephanie of Russian nobility; and in Right This Way and Leave It to Me!, she portrayed Frenchwomen. In all, Drasin appeared in seven musicals, from 1927 to 1938.

Music career

Besides "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and another ballad, "The Touch of Your Hand", in Roberta, Drasin introduced three other standards: "I Can Dream, Can't I?" and "I'll Be Seeing You" in Right This Way and "Get Out of Town" in Leave It to Me!.

Death and legacy

As I'll Be Seeing You was becoming one of the homefront anthems of World War II, Drasin died in a United Service Organizations plane crash near Lisbon, Portugal, on 22 February 1943.[3][4]

Drasin's story was partially told in the Jane Froman film With a Song in My Heart (1952).[5] Froman suffered serious injuries in the same plane crash[4][5] and later said that she had given Drasin her seat, which bothered Froman for the rest of her life.[6]

References
  1. "Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (Smoke Gets in Your Eyes)". www.jazzstandards.com. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. "Guide to the Drasin Family Papers, 1900-1999".
  3. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 314A NC18603 Lisboa". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  4. "Famous people who died in aviation accidents". planecrashinfo.com. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  5. "Tamara Drasin @ JazzStandards.com as retrieved December 31, 2006". Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  6. Holding the High Notes: The Life of Jane Froman (DVD). 20th Century Fox. 13 November 2017.
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