Fanny Fields

Fanny Fields (born Fanny Furman, September 15, 1880 – September 12, 1961), often billed as 'Happy' Fanny Fields, was an American singer, dancer and comic entertainer who found success in British music halls and pantomimes in the early 1900s.

Biography She was born in New York City, into a Jewish family of Polish and German heritage, and first appeared in variety shows in the city around 1899. She took the stage name Fields from that of her sister's husband, who was one half of a duo, Gallagher and Fields. In her act, she sang and told comic stories as Gretchen, a naïve young German or Dutch woman who "spent much time contemplating the actions of a sweetheart". Later that year, a reviewer in The Playgoer described her as "one big bubble of mirth and merriment". She toured in the company of Welsh harpist Nansi Richards, and helped devise tricks for Richards to perform, such as playing with her back turned, or playing two harps simultaneously. In 1906, Fanny Fields had her greatest success with the song "By the Side of the Zuider Zee", written for her by A. J. Mills and Bennett Scott.

She performed her act before King George V at the first Royal Command Performance, held in 1912. She also starred in a short film, Happy Fanny Fields and the Four Little Dutchmen, made by the Selsior company. She returned to the United States and married Dr. Abraham Rongy ( Roginsky, 1878–1949), a gynecologist who set up maternity hospitals and later published Abortion: Legal or Illegal? (1933), one of the first books proposing the legalization of abortion. As Fanny Furman Rongy, she became an active fundraiser for Lebanon Hospital and other Jewish medical organizations.

She died in New York City in 1961, aged 80.