Exhibits: Irish American Hall of History

Morton Downey

1901 - 1985

Recording Artist, Radio

Known throughout his career as "The Golden Voiced Irish Tenor," "The Irish Troubadour," and "The Irish Nightingale" Morton Downey was the first Irish-American superstar of the twentieth century. Paul Whiteman discovered him in New York and signed him as a vocalist. In 1926 he left Whiteman to sing for Ziegfield's Palm Beach Nights in Florida. After this he went solo and toured London, Paris and Berlin and gained international stardom. He tried making films but he was not very comfortable as an actor. Radio became his claim to fame when he was signed by CBS. At the peak of his career, in the 1930s he was receiving 95,000 fan letters a week and earning $250,000 a year. Coca-Cola was his main sponsor and eventually he eased out of entertainment and into the corporate world with them. His grandfather was from Co. Kilkenny, Ireland.

External Links

• Morton Downey - Wikipedia