Hildegarde

Biography

Born Hildegarde Loretta Sell in Adell, Wisconsin, but for 70 years she was known simply as "The Incomparable Hildegarde," a title bestowed on her by columnist Walter Winchell. During the peak of her popularity in the 1930s and 40s, she was booked in cabarets and supper clubs at least 45 weeks a year. She appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1939, and her recordings sold in the hundreds of thousands. Revlon even introduced a Hildegarde shade of lipstick and nail polish. From the 1950s through the 1970s, in addition to her cabaret performances and record albums, she appeared in several television specials and toured with the national company of the Stephen Sondheim musical "Follies." Hildegarde accompanied herself on the piano and chatted between numbers, often poking fun at herself. During a 1993 performance at Manhattan's Algonquin Hotel, she said, "Wrinkle, wrinkle, leave me alone. Go and sliver Sharon Stone."