Trivia

Jewish-American cabaret artist, pianist, scat singer and performer of show tunes, often laced with sexual double entendres.

Arrested in Los Angeles for possession of marijuana in 1955.

Singer/actress.

She starred in some Soundies musical short films in the early 1940s including "Keeping My Mouth Shut for Uncle Sam" (1942).

She was a second cousin of actor Danny Kaye.

Faye's showbiz career began at the age of 15 in nightclubs where she first became a star.

Faye herself was bisexual and hinted at this frequently in her act; she would often playfully alter pronouns in love songs or weave her girlfriend's name into lyrics of song. For instance, she inserted "it's a Teri, Teri day" into "The Man I Love" and on national television sang "why do all the boys treat Teri so right" in "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate.".

She wrote the song "Well All Right" recorded by the Andrews Sisters.

She recorded about a dozen albums for many different record labels, including Capitol Records and Imperial Records and jazz labels Verve Records and Bethlehem Records.

Her act became famous for including double entendres and references to homosexuality and lesbianism.

Faye made her solo recording debut in 1936.

Peter Allen credited her as a major influence and had Faye sing the vocals on the track "Just a Gigolo (Schoner Gigolo)" on his 1974 album, Continental American.

She returned to film in 1978, playing an elderly cocaine-sniffing madam in the Louis Malle film Pretty Baby. She retired shortly afterwards.

In the late 1950s, a woman named Teri Shepherd became her manager and lifelong partner. Shepherd discussed her relationship with Faye in Bruce Weber's 2001 film Chop Suey.

During the 1960s, Faye suffered a number of health related problems brought on by a hip accident in 1958. She nevertheless continued to tour into the early 1980s.