Anne Triola

Anne Margaret Triola (September 25, 1920 – July 27, 2012) was an American singer, musician, and actress of stage, film, and television. As a comedian and supporting actress, she got her start singing in Hollywood night clubs. Triola made her mark in the well known musical film Lullaby Of Broadway and received much praise for her effort in the motion picture Without Reservations (1946), which starred Claudette Colbert and John Wayne. She participated in five Hollywood films, assisted with USO tours in the Pacific Theater during World War II, and caused audiences to lose themselves in laughter, but Triola may best be remembered for work as a singer and comedian with the musical theatre that included performances in night clubs all over the country such as the Blue Angel in New York City.

Triola was listed as being one of the most popular performers in the history of Music Circus that included her work with the Sacramento Music Circus in the 1950s. She was described as a petite, dark haired, dark-eyed song stylist with the Betty Hutton type of delivery.

Early life Triola was born in Los Angeles, California and was of Italian descent. Her childhood was not typical for a little girl growing up in Southern California. Instead, Triola embarked on a long stint of study that began with piano when she was just three years old, prematurely launching her professional career when most children were, back then, mastering the art of roller skating. She learned to play the accordion, and by the early age of 12 Triola began playing the squeezebox and singing in various cafes, including one called "Burp Hollow."

World War II

The beginning of Triola's career in show business was interrupted by World War II as Hollywood became involved with the war effort through its USO tours that included big-name actors Bob Hope and Gary Cooper. From the Hollywood "Bar of Music" she went on a South Pacific tour with Judith Anderson's USO troupe. They served in a number of USO shows during the war and entertained at such well-remembered spots in New Guinea as Lae, Nadzab and Finchhaven in spite of all the dangers that existed from air raids by Japanese bombers and strafing Zeros that were land-based or planes coming from aircraft carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku.

It was recorded on a specific day in the summer of 1944 at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, that Triola, Anderson, and their USO troupe entertained as many as 1,500 American servicemen—Navy, Army, and Merchant Marine personnel—at the 113th Amphitheater. Triola played her accordion while Shirley Cornell played the violin. Noted actress Anderson and Helen McClure each performed singing duties while PFC Paul Parmalee played the piano as the group worked together to lift the spirits of battle-weary, worn-out soldiers.

Triola lost one $1,500 accordion at the Pacific when a light globe set fire to it. She was well known as a night club performer only. In New Guinea her accordion burned and it became necessary for Triola to reschedule her act. Box-office star Doris Day and actor Gene Nelson received most of the attention in the Technicolor musical extravaganza, but the comedy aspect of the film was well provided with the performances of De Wolfe and his vaudeville partner, Triola.

Started in television Once more Anne Triola returned to night clubs and started in the new entertainment medium, television. She appeared on panel programs and as guest artist on shows. Her last television program was as a guest of Frank Sinatra.

With Triola's popularity growing, producers Howard Young and Russell Lewis gave a fitting tribute to Music Circus' favorite actress as they opened the fifth anniversary season in May 1955. She starred in the musical Annie Get Your Gun which was her signature gig that Triola had performed during the Music Circus' first season.

In August 1959, she took on the lead role of Bells Are Ringing at the Sacramento Music Circus. Co-starring with her were Gar Moore and Marvin Kaplan. She performed the role of a telephone answering service operator in this romantic musical comedy which ran for two weeks straight that summer. This gave them two daughters in all as Quartaroli had a daughter named Susan from his previous marriage to his first wife, Edna B. Quartaroli.

Tragedy struck the family when Triola's husband and three passengers on board his private airplane were killed in a plane crash during a trip from Las Vegas to Van Nuys, California, on May 15, 1960.

Triola remarried in 1979, to Willey G. Forman (b. 1912) but they divorced in 1983. He died in June 1999 at the age of 86.

She lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the early 1990s but had moved back to Los Angeles by 1996. Triola died in Lee's Summit, Missouri on July 27, 2012, at the age of 91.

Filmography Snow Follies (1939) Moon Over Las Vegas (1944) Without Reservations (1946) Sleep, My Love (1948) Lullaby of Broadway (1951)