right|thumb|lily pons, ca. 1937 lily pons (april 12, 1898 â february 13, 1976) was an american operatic soprano and actress who had an active career from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. as an opera singer she specialized in the coloratura soprano repertoire and was particularly associated with the title roles in lakmÃ© and lucia di lammermoor. in addition to appearing as a guest artist with many opera houses internationally, pons enjoyed a long association with the metropolitan opera in new york city where she performed nearly 300 times between 1931 and 1960. she also had a successful and lucrative career as a concert singer which continued until her retirement from performance in 1973. from 1935â37 she made three musical films for rko pictures. she also made numerous appearances on radio and on television, performing on variety programs like the ed sullivan show, the colgate comedy hour, and the dave garroway show among others. in 1955 she topped the bill for the first broadcast of what became an iconic television series, sunday night at the london palladium. she made dozens of records; recording both classical and popular music. she was awarded the croix de lorraine and the lÃ©gion d'honneur by the government of france. pons was also savvy at making herself into a marketable cultural icon. her opinions on fashion and home decorating were frequently reported in women's magazines, and she appeared as the face for lockheed airplanes, knox gelatin and libby's tomato juice advertisements. a town in maryland named itself after her, and thereafter the singer contrived to have all her christmas cards posted from lilypons, maryland. opera news wrote, "pons promoted herself with a kind of marketing savvy that no singer ever had shown before, and very few have since; only luciano pavarotti was quite so successful at exploiting the mass media." ==early life and education==  born as alice josÃ©phine pons in draguignan near cannes, to a french father, lÃ©onard louis auguste antoine pons, and an italian-born mother, maria (nÃ©e naso), later known as marie pÃ©tronille pons. she first studied piano at the paris conservatory, winning the first prize at the age of 15. at the onset of world war i in 1914, she moved with her mother and younger sister juliette (born december 22, 1902 â died 1995) to cannes where she played piano and sang for soldiers at receptions given in support of the french troops and at the famous hotel carlto
1898_births 1976_deaths 20th-century_American_actresses American_film_actresses American_operatic_sopranos American_people_of_Italian_descent Burials_at_the_CimetiA"re_du_Grand_Jas Cancer_deaths_in_Texas Chevaliers_of_the_LA(c)gion_d\'honneur Deaths_from_pancreatic_cancer French_emigrants_to_the_United_States French_operatic_sopranos French_people_of_Italian_descent People_from_Palm_Springs,_California People_from_Var_(department)