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Fanny Fields (born Fanny Furman, September 15, 1880 – September 12, 1961), often billed as 'Happy' Fanny Fields, was an American singer, dancer and comic entertainer who found success in British and in the early 1900s.
In 1902, she travelled to London, where she became a great success in and in such as Aladdin. "Fanny Fields papers", New York Public Library. Retrieved 6 September 2020 Later that year, a reviewer in The Playgoer described her as "one big bubble of mirth and merriment". The Playgoer, September 1902, p.337. Retrieved 6 September 2020 She toured in the company of Welsh harpist Nansi Richards, and helped devise tricks for Richards to perform, such as playing with her back turned, or playing two harps simultaneously. Nansi Richards - "The Bells of Aberdovey", Folktrax.org. Retrieved 6 September 2020 In 1906, Fanny Fields had her greatest success with the song "By the Side of the Zuider Zee", written for her by A. J. Mills and Bennett Scott. She also performed "The Suffragette", with a monologue section starting: "The points is, girls, stand up for your rights. If you can't stand up, sit down, but don't let them catch you bending. Why should a woman play second fiddle to a man? Huh!...". "The Suffragette", Monologues.co.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2020
She performed her act before King George V at the first Royal Command Performance, held in 1912.Richard Anthony Baker, British Music Hall: an illustrated history, Pen & Sword, 2014, , p.80 She also starred in a short film, Happy Fanny Fields and the Four Little Dutchmen, made by the Selsior company.
The following year, 1913, she quit her entertainment career. Described as "one of the brightest stars" of the music halls, a farewell dinner was arranged by the theatrical profession in her honour at the Savoy Hotel. "Fanny Fields Feted", The Playgoer, vol.9 no.49, 1913, p.70 She returned to the United States and married Dr. Abraham Rongy ( Roginsky, 1878–1949), a gynecologist who set up maternity hospitals and later published Abortion: Legal or Illegal? (1933), one of the first books proposing the legalization of abortion. As Fanny Furman Rongy, she became an active fundraiser for Lebanon Hospital and other Jewish medical organizations. "Fanny Fields - original 1909 letter", WorthPoint.com. Retrieved 6 September 2020
She died in New York City in 1961, aged 80.
In a 2002 ITV biography, Joan Rivers revealed that Fields was a grandaunt on her mother's side and that "(Fanny) was the star of the family; she came over to the United States and married very, very rich and became very grand. She was the one person Noël Coward wanted to meet when he hit the United States."The South Bank Show, aired 24 November 2002 ITV London
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