The Helen Morgan Page

One hundred and twenty-two years ago … Helen Riggin was born in Danville, IL.

Note the number. Helen was born in 1902, not 1900 as most source material claim.

Why 1900?

Because in The Best Plays of 1928-1929, editor Burns Mantle permitted this to be printed:

Primary source material prior to 1927 all point to Helen being born August 2, 1902. Case in point: the 1910 Federal Census.

Helen was not quite 8 years old when enumerated in April 1910. And 8-year-olds rarely lie about their age. However, her stepfather, Thomas Morgan *did* lie to state that he and Helen’s mother, Lulu, had been married for eight years, with the implied claim that Helen was Tom’s daughter, and a legitimate one.

Actually, Helen’s father was Lulu’s first husband, Frank Riggin. They separated in April 1902, four months before Helen was born. The Riggins divorced in early 1903, when Helen was still an infant.

And to add to the fun, starting with her 1927 trip abroad, Helen began claiming she was born in 1904, as her arrival form states:

At the end of the day, what matters is that Helen was born and left us her music.

This site serves as a companion to Helen Morgan: The Original Torch Singer and Ziegfeld’s Last Star, which was published on September 3, 2024.