Tamara Drasin

Actress and musician Tamara Drasin was born in Ukraine on January 1, 1905, and grew up in New York City, where she attended elementary school and Hunter College. Her career began in 1927 with an appearance in the revue "The New Yorkers," not the Cole Porter show, and she soon became a familiar presence in Manhattan's Russian restaurants, including the Gypsy Tavern and the Kretchma. She also had brief roles in Broadway productions such as "Crazy Quilt," "Americana," and "Free For All."

Drasin rose to wider fame in shows like "Roberta," "Right This Way," and "Leave It to Me," in which she sang "Get Out Of Town." In 1936, she performed in a night club act at New York's Versailles. Her career spanned 16 years, from 1927 to 1943, and she worked as both an actress and a musician.

In her private life, she was married to Erwin D. Swann, vice president of the Foote, Cone & Belding advertising agency. Drasin's life was cut short at age 38 when she died on February 22, 1943, one of 24 casualties of a plane crash in the Tagus River near Lisbon. Jane Froman survived the crash. Luther Adler delivered the eulogy at her service, which was attended by 500 mourners on April 16, 1943.