The Film Industry Remembers Billie ~ tho' she never starred in a film

- Frank Driggs, photographer

"Internet Movie Database" has a profile for Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday was remembered in film primarily as a Music Composer and Lyrics Writer and for her legendary personality, notably, after her death:

Miscellaneous Crew - filmography (2000s) (1990s) (1980s) (1960s)
The Notebook (2004) (singer: "I'll Be Seeing You")
Minority Report (2002) (singer: "Solitude")
Chelsea Walls (2001) (singer: "What a Little Moonlight Can Do") ... aka Chelsea Hotel
Crosswalk (1999) (singer: "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and "I'll Be Seeing You")
Lumière et compagnie (1995) (singer: "Lady Sings the Blues") ... aka Lumière and Company (International: English title) ... aka Lumiere y compañía (Spain)
Forget Paris (1995) (singer: "Love Is Here To Stay" and "For All We Know")
Schindler's List (1993) (singer: "God Bless the Child")
Slaves of New York (1989) (singer: "Am I Blue?")
Torch Song Trilogy (1988) (singer: "What's New" and "But Not For Me")
Rocket Gibraltar (1988) (singer: "You Better Go Now", "Don't Explain" and "Foolin' Myself")
Eva (1962) (singer: "Loveless Love" and "Willow Weep for Me") (as Billy Holiday) ... aka Eva (USA) ... aka Eva, the Devil's Woman ... aka Eve (UK)

Filmography as: Miscellaneous Crew, Composer, Actress, Writer, Herself, Archive Footage, Notable TV Guest Appearances

Composer - filmography (2000s) (1990s) (1980s) (1970s) (1960s) (1950s)
Glenn Miller 2000 (2001) (song "Travelin light")
Any Given Sunday (1999) (song "Don't Explain")
Schindler's List (1993) (song "God Bless the Child")
Rocket Gibraltar (1988) (song "Don't Explain")
Liza with a 'Z' (1972) (TV) (song "God Bless the Child") ... aka Singer Presents Liza with A Z (USA)
Man Outside (1965)
'Sugar Chile' Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet (1951) (song "God Bless the Child")
Panic in the Streets (1950) (song "Fine and Mellow")


"Billie Holiday - Lady Day" - art.com#10033851

Archive Footage

Strange Fruit (2002) .... Herself
It's Black Entertainment (2002) (TV) .... Herself
Reputations: Billie Holiday (2001) (TV) .... Herself
"Jazz" (2001) (mini) .... Herself
Carnegie Hall Salutes the Jazz Masters: Verve Records at 50 (1994) (TV) .... Herself
Apollo Theatre Hall of Fame (1993) (TV) .... Herself
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (1975) .... Herself

Notable TV Guest Appearances
"Walk On By: The Story of Popular Song" playing "Herself" (archive footage) in episode: "Stardust" (episode # 1.2) 24 March 2001
"The Seven Lively Arts" playing "Herself" in episode: "The Sound of Jazz" 8 December 1957

News for Billie Holiday
"Jazz Man Artie Shaw Dies"
31 December 2004 (WENN) Celebrated jazz clarinetist Artie Shaw has died in California, aged 94. The musician, who was married to stunners Ava Gardner and Lana Turner, is famous for his renditions of standards like "Begin The Beguine" and "Lady Be Good" in the 1930s. Shaw teamed up with jazz greats like Billie Holiday and Buddy Rich for hits in the 1920s and 1930s. A famously difficult man, Shaw quit playing jazz in the 1960s because he insisted he could no longer play at the standard he set himself. He spent years as a recluse before reviving his band and occasionally standing in as conductor in the early 1980s.

"Streisand's an Eminem Fan"
9 December 2002 (WENN) Rapper Eminem has been given unusual praise from legendary diva Barbra Streisand. The diva admits she has seen the rapper's new movie 8 Mile - and the singer and actress is a big fan. She says, "I like things that are emotional, whether it's Billie Holiday or Eminem singing about his youth and his pain and vulnerability. I think he really understands the power of the inner self. I didn't always understand what they were saying in the movie, but it's a slice of real life. I grew up in a very poor neighborhood, so I totally relate to that part of music today. That's a big part of me, that kid playing in the street."

"Jane's Trick For Getting Into Character"
2 October 2000 (WENN) Little Voice (1998) star Jane Horrocks has revealed how she managed to get into the character of the women she mimics on her new CD. The Yorkshire actress, 36, is working on an album - "The Further Adventures of Little Voice" - sung in the voices of such stars as Marilyn Monroe and Billie Holiday. To stop herself getting confused and to help her get the voices just right, Jane and her singing teacher came up with key words to help her focus on each character. "For Monroe...'Big t**s'. Also, 'Pout' and 'Sexy lips'." For Judy Garland, Jane used the words, 'On the edge'. "That's what I had to do for Garland. You have a feeling that she's going to burst into tears at any moment."

In IMBd.com's biography for Billie Holiday, the most notable facts they entered were in the trivia ~ after all, she had no celebrity as a movie star or movie-maker:

Trade mark: Gardenia flower in her hair

Trivia:

She died with 70 cents in the bank and $750 strapped to her leg -- a reminder of her life-long fear of poverty.
In 1959, narcotic addiction was a crime, not an illness. She was arrested on her deathbed.
Billie had no cabaret card and this kept her from working in New York City clubs for the last 12 years of her life.
Her given name was Eleanora -- "Billie" came from silent screen star Billie Dove.
Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1979.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 (under the category Early Influence).
Posthumously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "God Bless The Child" (1976), "Strange Fruit" (1978), "Lover Man" (1989), and "Lady In Satin" (2000)
Made her recording debut on "Your Mother's Son-In-Law" (1933) with Benny Goodman.
Was the common-law wife of trumpeter Joe Guy (1951-1957), but they always identified themselves to people as husband and wife. She was separated from her last husband, Louis McKay, at the time of her death.
Her grandfather was one of 17 children born to a black Virginia slave and her white Irish master.
At the time of her birth, her mother, Sadie Fagan (born Sarah Harris), was just 13. Her father, Clarence Holiday, was 15. It's uncertian if they ever married. Clarence abandoned Sadie when Billie was an infant.
Ranked #6 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll
Cousin of former boxing champion turned minister Henry Armstrong.


Billie Holiday - 1957