Lillian Roth

American singer and actress.
Born 13 December 1910 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Died 12 May 1980 in New York City, New York, USA.
She was the daughter of stage parents who groomed her and younger sister Anna for stardom at an early age. At the age of six she made her Broadway debut in "The Inner Man." At age 17, Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. signed her up as an ingénue headliner in his new show "Midnight Frolics."
After bouts with alcoholism and depression, she revived her career in the late 1940's. Her appearance on "This Is Your Life" TV show in 1953 brought great sympathy and understanding to her life--the episode received the largest amount of mail in the show's history. Her autobiography, "I'll Cry Tomorrow," was published in 1954 and topped The New York Times Best Seller list, and led many to Alcholics Anonymous and put a face on the disease and helped reduce its social stigma. A film adaption of the story followed, with Susan Hayward playing Lillian.