Florence Foster Jenkins was an American socialite and amateur soprano who became known, and mocked, for her flamboyant performance costumes and notably poor singing ability. Stephen Pile ranked her "the world's worst opera singer... No one, before or since, has succeeded in liberating themselves quite so completely from the shackles of musical notation." Despite – or perhaps because of – her technical incompetence she became a prominent musical cult-figure in New York City during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Cole Porter, Gian Carlo Menotti, Lily Pons, Sir Thomas Beecham, and other celebrities were fans. Enrico Caruso reportedly "regarded her with affection and respect". The poet William Meredith wrote that a Jenkins recital "was never exactly an aesthetic experience, or only to the degree that an early Christian among the lions provided aesthetic experience; it was chiefly immolatory, and Madame Jenkins was always eaten, in the end."
| Born | Narcissa Florence Foster, July 19, 1868, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | November 26, 1944, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Amateur singer, socialite |
| Years active | 1912–1944 |
| Spouse(s) | Frank Thornton Jenkins (1885–1906, separated 1886) |
| Partner(s) | St. Clair Bayfield (1909–1944, her death) |
About Florence Foster Jenkins
Biographical film starring Meryl Streep as the eponymous character. Jenkins is an heiress who became an opera singer with notably painful singing skills.
Achievement of Florence Foster Jenkins
The movie earned Academy Award nominations for Best Actress (Streep) and Best Costume Design. It also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture.
Top Facts You Did Not Know About Florence Foster Jenkins
Humor in classical music.. Outsider musicians.. Child classical musicians.. American sopranos.. Singers from Pennsylvania.. RCA Victor artists.. American socialites.
Latest information about Florence Foster Jenkins updated on July 28 2021.
