Florence Foster Jenkins

For the 2016 biographical film, see Florence Foster Jenkins (film).

Florence Foster Jenkins
Born
Narcissa Florence Foster

(1868-07-19)July 19, 1868
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedNovember 26, 1944(1944-11-26) (aged 76)
New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)Amateur singer, socialite
Years active1912–1944
SpouseFrank Thornton Jenkins (1852–1917, separated 1886)
PartnerSt. Clair Bayfield (1875–1967)

Florence Foster Jenkins (born Narcissa Florence Foster;[a] July 19, 1868 – November 26, 1944) was an American socialite and amateur soprano who became known, and mocked, for her flamboyant performance costumes and notably poor singing ability. Stephen Pile ranked her "the world's worst opera singer ... No one, before or since, has succeeded in liberating themselves quite so completely from the shackles of musical notation."[1]

Despite – or perhaps because of – her technical incompetence, she became a prominent musical camp cult-figure in New York City during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Cole Porter, Gian Carlo Menotti, Lily Pons, Sir Thomas Beecham, and other celebrities were counted among her fans.[2][3] Enrico Caruso reportedly "regarded her with affection and respect".[4]

The poet William Meredith wrote that a Jenkins recital "was never exactly an aesthetic experience, or only to the degree that an early Christian among the lions provided aesthetic experience; it was chiefly immolatory, and Madame Jenkins was always eaten, in the end."[5]


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  1. ^ Pile, Stephen (2011). The Ultimate Book of Heroic Failures. Faber and Faber. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-571-27728-5.
  2. ^ "Florence Foster Jenkins". Archived November 12, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. American National Biography Online. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  3. ^ "Celebrity fan club: the stars who loved the world's worst singer". Archived April 4, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  4. ^ Dixon, Daniel (December 1957). "Florence Foster Jenkins The Diva of Din". Archived July 5, 2003, at the Wayback Machine Coronet. Via MaxBass.com. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference worst was invoked but never defined (see the help page).