She left her career as a film actress and became known for her role on the radio show The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show.
Alice Jeanne Leppert was born on May 5, 1915, in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, the daughter of Alice (née Moffit), who worked for the Mirror Chocolate Company, and Charles Leppert, a police officer. She had an older brother, Charles. Faye was raised an Episcopalian. Faye's entertainment career began in vaudeville as a chorus girl. She failed an audition for the Earl Carroll Vanities when she was found to be too young, then moved to Broadway and a featured role in the 1931 edition of George White's Scandals. By this time, she had adopted her stage name and first reached a radio audience on Rudy Vallée's The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour.
Faye gained her first major film break in 1934, when Lilian Harvey abandoned the lead role in a film version of George White's Scandals (1934 film), in which Vallee was also to appear. Hired first to perform a musical number with Vallee, Faye ended up as the female lead. She became a popular film star for audiences of the 1930s, particularly when Fox production head Darryl F. Zanuck made her his protégée. He softened Faye from a wisecracking showgirl to a youthful, and yet somewhat motherly figure, such as her roles in a few Shirley Temple films. Faye received a physical makeover, going from a version of Jean Harlow to a wholesome appearance, in which her platinum hair and pencil-line eyebrows were swapped for a more natural look.

Return to Alice Faye Autograph Profile