Hope Emerson Biography

Fast Facts

• Started out singing and playing the piano in cabarets
• After graduating from West High School in Des Moines, Iowa, she left home to work on her theater skills
• Quote: "[on her nightclub work] "I not only played and sang blues, but I also had to toss the piano around a bit to amuse the patrons․""
• At 230 pounds and over six feet tall, she filled roles as everything from an Amazonian leader in Broadway's "Lysistrata" to a circus strongwoman able to lift Spencer Tracy in his chair in "Adam's Rib․"
• Often used her brusque voice and stern demeanor to play villainous roles, such as a sadistic prison matron in "Caged․"
• Voiced Elsie the Cow on commercials for Borden Milk in the 1950s
• Released six music recordings on the General label