Monica Lewis obit

Monica Lewis, Actress Who Sang in Chiquita Banana Cartoons, Dies at 93

 She was not on the list.

Monica Lewis, a former Benny Goodman vocalist who headlined the very first broadcast of “The Ed Sullivan Show,” was the voice of the popular Chiquita Banana cartoons, clowned opposite Jerry Lewis, Red Skelton and Danny Kaye, and had roles in such films as “Earthquake,” “Airport 1975” and “The Concorde — Airport ’79,” died on June 12 of natural causes at her apartment in Woodland Hills, Calif. She was 93.

Lewis was born in Chicago to a musical family. Her father Leon Lewis was a symphonic composer and conductor; her mother Jessica sang with the Chicago Opera Company and her sister Barbara was a classical pianist. Her brother Marlo became head of variety for CBS-TV and created Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” show.

Monica studied voice with her mother from the time she was a toddler, but when the family lost everything during the Depression, they moved to New York to start over. Monica quit school when she was 17, took a job as a radio vocalist to supplement the family’s income, and soon had own program on WMCA. This led to her debut at the Stork Club (though she was still too young to drink).

In 1943, Benny Goodman’s vocalist Peggy Lee eloped with guitarist Dave Barbour, and Goodman was frantically trying to find a replacement. Monica auditioned and got the job, performing with Goodman that same night on national radio. She finished out his New York engagements, but Monica’s mother felt she was too young to go out on the road with the band. She quickly went on to star on such national programs as “Beat The Band” and “The Revere Camera Show,” and joined Frank Sinatra as co-star of “The Chesterfield Hour — Music That Satisfies.”

In 1945, Lewis was briefly married to Bob Thiele, a former disc jockey who had started a small independent label, Signature Records. She scored a series of hits on Signature including “Put the Blame on Mame,” “But Not for Me,” “I’m Gonna Be a Bad Girl” and “The House I Live In.” When the company was bought by Decca Records, she continued her string of hits with “A Tree in the Meadow,” “The Gentleman Is a Dope” and “The Bluest Kind of Blues.”

In 1947 she introduced columnist Ed Sullivan to her brother Marlo and suggested they try to do a variety show for CBS, to compete with Milton Berle’s “Texaco Star Theatre” on NBC. The result was “Toast of the Town,” which made its debut on June 20, 1948, with Monica headlining alongside composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein and the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

Records and television led to movies, and in 1950, Monica signed an exclusive contract with MGM for both films and recordings. Groomed by the studio’s drama coach Lillian Burns, she was given singing, dancing and acting roles in such films as “Inside Straight”; “The Strip”; “Excuse My Dust” with Red Skelton, and “Everything I Have Is Yours,” in which she got to dance with Gower Champion. Later film credits included “Affair With a Stranger” and “The D.I.” with Jack Webb.

In 1951, Lewis toured the front lines of Korea with Danny Kaye. Upon her return, she signed with Capitol Records, scoring a hit with “Autumn Leaves.”

She also began a 14-year campaign as the voice of Chiquita Banana, a series of musical cartoon ads, and soon the entire country was singing along to “You should never put bananas in the refrigerator—No No, No No!”

Lewis had romances with Ronald Reagan, Kirk Douglas and writer Liam O’Brien. In 1956, she met and married widowed MCA/Universal production executive Jennings Lang, putting her own career on hold in order to become mother to his young sons Robert and Michael, whom she adopted. They were soon joined by a third son, Rocky, now a successful screenwriter, producer-director and author. The Langs also opened their Beverly Hills home for a series of major political and charitable causes, playing host to an array of notables that included Sen. Ted Kennedy, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand and the Beatles (who performed a benefit show in their backyard).

As the children grew older, Lewis began accepting guest-star roles on such popular TV shows as “Wagon Train, “Night Gallery,” “The Virginian,” “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” “Remington Steele,” “Ironside” and “Falcon Crest.” She also made cameo appearances in several of her husband’s films, in order to accompany him on location: “Earthquake” with Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner, “Charley Varrick” with Walter Matthau, “Nunzio,” “The Sting II” and the disaster epics “Rollercoaster,” “Airport 1975” and “The Concorde — Airport ’79”.

She resumed her singing career in 1985, with appearances at such clubs as the Vine St. Bar and Grill and Hollywood Roosevelt Cinegrill in Los Angeles, and Danny’s Skylight Room in New York. She also recorded several albums, including “My Favorite Things,” “Monica Lewis Swings Jule Styne,” and “Never Let Me Go.” Following her husband’s death in 1996, she recorded a tribute album tracing their 40-year marriage, entitled “Why Did I Choose You?”

In 2014, she was approached by filmmaker Ned McNeilage to be among the veteran performers profiled in his documentary short “Showfolk,” and she found herself back on the bigscreen at age 92. The film debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and went on to win awards on the festival circuit, including the Los Angeles Film Festival and the Palm Springs Film Festival, with Lewis usually taking a bow. In January 2015, she appeared at the Million Dollar Theatre with a screening of “Earthquake” for Vintage Los Angeles.

Lewis is survived by sons Rocky and Mike (the jazz pianist) and three grandchildren.

 

Actress (52 credits)

 2007 Jimmy Kimmel Live! (TV Series)

Guest

- Episode #4.418 (2007) ... Guest

 1988 Dead Heat

Mrs. Von Heisenberg

 1988 The Law and Harry McGraw (TV Series)

Judge One

- Waiting Game (1988) ... Judge One

 1986 Falcon Crest (TV Series)

Louella

- Dangerous Ground (1986) ... Louella

 1985 Santa Barbara (TV Series)

Woman in Hall

- Episode #1.345 (1985) ... Woman in Hall

 1985 Remington Steele (TV Series)

B.J. Sinclair

- Forged Steele (1985) ... B.J. Sinclair

 1985 Stick

Female Vocalist

 1983 The Sting II

Band Singer

 1982 Boxoffice

Francesca

 1979 The Concorde... Airport '79

Gretchen

 1978 The Immigrants (TV Movie)

Mrs. Whittier

 1978 Zero to Sixty

Aunt Clara

 1978 Nunzio

 1978 Actor (TV Movie)

Zelda

 1977 Rollercoaster

Tourist Mother

 1977 Quincy M.E. (TV Series)

Mona Duffy

- A Good Smack in the Mouth (1977) ... Mona Duffy

 1977 Airport '77

Anne

 1975 Barbary Coast (TV Series)

Mrs. Cushman

- The Day Cable Was Hanged (1975) ... Mrs. Cushman

 1974 Earthquake

Barbara

 1968-1974 Ironside (TV Series)

Amelia Barrot / Joan Partridge

- A Death in Academe (1974) ... Amelia Barrot

- Trip to Hashbury (1968) ... Joan Partridge

 1973 Charley Varrick

Beverly

 1972 Emergency! (TV Series)

Maury Peeyer

- Show Biz (1972) ... Maury Peeyer

 1971 Night Gallery (TV Series)

Official (segment "The Different Ones")

- The Different Ones/Tell David.../Logoda's Heads (1971) ... Official (segment "The Different Ones")

 1971 Marcus Welby, M.D. (TV Series)

Monica McKay

- The Contract (1971) ... Monica McKay

 1965-1968 The Virginian (TV Series)

Emily 'Em' Porter / Connie Wells / Martha Winslow

- The Decision (1968) ... Emily 'Em' Porter

- Trail to Ashley Mountain (1966) ... Connie Wells

- Lost Yesterday (1965) ... Martha Winslow

 1967 Laredo (TV Series)

Belle Bronson

- Split the Difference (1967) ... Belle Bronson

 1965 Convoy (TV Series)

Sister Seraphita

- Sink U-116! (1965) ... Sister Seraphita

 1965 Wagon Train (TV Series)

Kate

- The Silver Lady (1965) ... Kate

 1964 Crossroads (TV Series)

Ada Fairweather

 1964 Arrest and Trial (TV Series)

Thecla Whitney

- Somewhat Lower Than the Angels (1964) ... Thecla Whitney

 1963 Kraft Suspense Theatre (TV Series)

Mrs. Caldwell

- The Name of the Game (1963) ... Mrs. Caldwell

 1961-1962 The Tall Man (TV Series)

Babette Antoine / Sal

- The Four Queens (1962) ... Babette Antoine

- Ladies of the Town (1961) ... Sal

 1955-1962 General Electric Theater (TV Series)

Joyce Grossblatt

- Ten Days in the Sun (1962) ... Joyce Grossblatt

- The Day He Got Fired (1955)

 1960-1961Shotgun Slade (TV Series)

Monica Bristol / Norma Packer

- The Payrollers (1961) ... Norma Packer

- A Flower for Jenny (1960) ... Monica Bristol

- Major Trouble (1960) ... Monica Bristol

 1961 Laramie (TV Series)

Clovis

- The Debt (1961) ... Clovis

 1960 Overland Trail (TV Series)

Anne Michaels

- The Reckoning (1960) ... Anne Michaels

 1960 The Deputy (TV Series)

Helen Ivers

- Last Gunfight (1960) ... Helen Ivers

 1959-1960 Johnny Staccato (TV Series)

Millie Collins / Hatcheck / Hat Check Girl

- The List of Death (1960) ... Millie Collins

- The Only Witness (1960) ... Hatcheck (uncredited)

- The Naked Truth (1959) ... Hat Check Girl (uncredited)

 1959Riverboat (TV Series)

M'liss McCabe

- A Race to Cincinnati (1959) ... M'liss McCabe

 1959 Tales of Wells Fargo (TV Series)

Molly

- Wild Cargo (1959) ... Molly

 1959 M Squad (TV Series)

Grace Richards

- The Third Shadow (1959) ... Grace Richards

 1958 Peter Gunn (TV Series)

Sally Hall

- Image of Sally (1958) ... Sally Hall

 1957 Those Whiting Girls (TV Series)

Marcie Paris

- The Trio (1957) ... Marcie Paris

 1957 The D.I.

Burt (as Matt Davis)

 1957Studio 57 (TV Series)

- Man on the Outside (1957)

 1957 The Danny Thomas Show (TV Series)

Miss Lorraine Andrews

- The School Teacher (1957) ... Miss Lorraine Andrews

 1955 Appointment with Adventure (TV Series)

Chrissie

- The Bridge of the Devil (1955) ... Chrissie

 1953 Affair with a Stranger

Janet Boothe

 1952 Everything I Have Is Yours

Sybil Meriden

 1951 The Strip

Monica Lewis

 1951 Excuse My Dust

Daisy Lou Shultzer

 1951 Inside Straight

Cafe Singer