Helen Forrest

 Helen Forrest, born Helen Fogel (April 12, 1917 – July 11, 1999)

Forrest was a singer of traditional pop and swing music. She served as the "girl singer" for three of the most popular big bands of the Swing Era (Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Harry James), thereby earning a reputation as "the voice of the name bands." She joined the Harry James band in 1941 and was quickly associated with a string of wartime hits which captured the spirit of the times. She also sang with the orchestra's of Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and toured with the USO shows. She recorded more than 500 songs to include "I've Heard That Song Before", "All The Things You Are" and "The Man I Love". For feature films, she appeared in the musicals "Bathing Beauty" (1944) and "Two Girls and a Sailor" (1944). She later signed a recording contract with Decca and co-starred with Dick Haymes on The Dick Haymes Show on CBS radio from 1944 to 1947. Helen's first Decca disc, "Time Waits For No One", reached second place on the Hit Parade, and the radio show achieved top ratings. Haymes was also contracted to Decca, and from 1944 to 1946 the pair recorded 18 duets, 10 of them reaching the Top Ten. After a dip in recording in the 1950s, including a stint with the startup Bell Records, Helen sang with Tommy Dorsey's orchestra, led by Sam Donahue, in the early 1960s. Helen continued to make occasional records and perform in concerts and was performing at Lake Tahoe with Frank Sinatra Jr. in 1963 when he was kidnapped. During the 1970s and 1980s, Forrest performed in supper clubs on "big band nostalgia" tours, including appearances with Harry James and Dick Haymes. In 1977, Helen participated in a television reunion of herself, James, and Haymes on The Merv Griffin Show.

Forrest remained dedicated to her musical profession and continued singing until the early 1990s when rheumatoid arthritis began to affect her vocal chords and forced her into retirement. Forrest also suffered scarlet fever as a youngster, which left her with a hearing loss. Helen Forrest died on July 11, 1999, from congestive heart failure at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. She is buried at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles.