Florence Foster Jenkins
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"People may say I can't sing, but no one can ever say I didn't sing" |
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Florence Foster Jenkins, born Nascina Florence Foster (July 19, 1868 – November 26, 1944), was an American socialite and amateur soprano who was known and mocked for her flamboyant performance costumes and notably poor singing ability.
Despite (or perhaps due to) her technical incompetence, she became a prominent musical cult figure in New York City during the 1920s, '30s, and '40s. Cole Porter, Enrico Caruso, and other celebrities were loyal fans. The poet William Meredith wrote that what Jenkins provided " ... 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.”
Florence Foster Jenkins, a British bio-pic starring Meryl Streep in the title role, premiered in 2016.
See also
Other overly confident outsiders in the arts include:
- Romeo Coates, actor
- William McGonagall, poet
- Amanda McKittrick Ros, writer
- The Shaggs, pop music group
- Mrs. Miller, cabaret singer
- Ed Wood, actor, director and producer
