Christopher S. Connelly is a film, theater, and opera historian. He has written for Etcetera magazine, the Nita Naldi webpage, and multiple souvenir programs for the Atlanta Opera. His work is featured in the Kino Lorber DVD release of Mamoulian’s Applause. Christopher has also worked as a stage actor for more than forty years. He also performs as a Roman Catholic cantor and as a chorister for the Atlanta Opera.
The Helen Morgan Page 
Hi, I just read your book on Helen Morgan. Very nice job. I learned a whole lot about the singer I did not already know.
I noticed that you did not include two of the more notorious stories told in Gilbert Maxwell’s Helen Morgan book. First, there was the one about Louis Armstrong having an upright piano rolled in because the singer tried to pass on his request to sing by saying he only had a baby grand.
And then there is the story of her pet lioness Princess tearing up hotel rooms. You report how she had trouble getting hotels to allow her to check in with her cat Charley, so this story also seems farfetched.
I’ve never found any references to either of these stories that do not trace back to Maxwell’s book. So I was wondering if you have run across any corroboration of either of these stories, especially the first, or if Maxwell was leaning into the legend part of his subtitle. “Her Life and Legend.”
Anyway, thanks for a good read.
Mark
anonymeinc@webtv.net
By: societeanonymeinc on July 30, 2026
at 9:56 pm
Thank you for your kind words. I found Maxwell’s book to be very frustrating because he cited none of his sources. The story about the lioness cub likely came from George Blackwood, the man who played Steve Baker on the 1932-33 SHOW BOAT tour. Considering Blackwood’s claim that he carried on a heated affair with Morgan during the tour – *while* she was romancing Arthur Loew AND Buddy Maschke – I am forced to suspect that Maxwell and/or Blackwood went the “legend” route. I came across a lot of material, in Maxwell and elsewhere, that I passed on because I could not verify. In regards to the lioness, I contacted the zoo to which Morgan allegedly surrendered the cub and they had no record of receiving any lion donation during the 1930s, from Morgan or anyone else.
By: Christopher S Connelly on August 6, 2026
at 2:00 pm
Thanks for your reply.
I’m actually most intrigued by the Louis Armstrong story. But I can’t imagine a story like that would not have been well reported at the time given how often the press wrote about her and I have found no reference to it that does not trace back to Maxwell. Plus, Morgan had regularly sung on grand, baby grand and standup pianos.
By: societeanonymeinc on August 6, 2026
at 2:09 pm