Born in Astoria, Long Island, Ethel Zimmerman was trained as a secretary, not as a singer. Her first professional singing job was at the Little Russia in New York. As Ethel Merman, she quickly made her way to the place she would dominate for decades--the spotlights of the Broadway stage. Described as "a doll from Astoria with a trumpet in her throat," Merman became an overnight success in her Broadway debut in George Gershwin's Girl Crazy (1930), singing I Got Rhythm.

Her fresh, high-volume style made her the favored performer for many of the major songwriters of the period, including Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin. Merman was the lead performer in more than a dozen Broadway musicals, including Something for the Boys (1943), Annie Get Your Gun (1946), Call Me Madam (1950), and Gypsy (1959). Her movie credits include There's No Business Like Show Business and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Merman received a Tony in 1972 for her lifetime contribution to show business.