Most of her films are so heavily colored by the popular tastes of their time that they are largely forgotten: movies with titles such as the 1930s’ “The Blue From the Sky” or “My Heart Calls You,” light concoctions layered with sweet songs like a Viennese cake. (That part didn’t quite pan out, not least because her big number in “For Me and My Gal” ended up on the cutting-room floor the studio didn’t want to risk having their rising star Garland overshadowed.) If you’re an opera fan, you know the name of her husband, Jan Kiepura, the Polish tenor, who foreshadowed the Three Tenors with his voice, his charm, and his willingness to reach out to audiences in more popular forms, outside the temple of opera. You might not know her name: because we on this side of the pond are not well versed in Central European operetta, or because you’re too young and don’t remember her in a couple of Judy Garland films, including “ For Me and My Gal,” that she made after she was signed by MGM and came to Hollywood to make her fortune. Her name is Marta Eggerth, she has lived in this house since 1958, and she is turning 100 years old on Tuesday. Sharply dressed in an elegant knit jacket, she makes her entrance. And there she is: the same delicate figure, the same big eyes, the same fluting, melodious voice. Walk through the iron gate and up the steps and into the long living room, filled with chairs set at conversational, slightly informal angles, as if a party had recently been given there, among the tables laden with framed black-and-white photos. On the grounds of a country club north of New York City, the stone house stands like a fortress of memory. They married made films together starred together on Broadway were known as the Love Couple all over Europe. A great opera conductor tried to secure her services, but so did the film studios, and she became a movie star - all the more starry after falling in love with her handsome leading man. At 17 she landed a role in a hit show written by one of the biggest names in show business. She was discovered, as such girls often are, and toured as a child prodigy and she had staying power, which such girls often do not. NEW YORK - Once upon a time, there was an 11-year-old Hungarian girl, with blond curls and big dark eyes and a beautiful singing voice and a singer mother who taught her how to use it.
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