# Another disappeared

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disappeared/83396>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [September 23, 2001, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disappeared/83396 "2001-09-23T22:09:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Fatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d2c977/32.png) [@Fatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatman)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2001, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disappeared/83396/1 "2001-09-23T22:09:08Z")

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I remember that Bessy Smith quit show biz and became  
a nurse. But she used the name “Elizabeth” and was  
thought to be dead. She appeared with Gene Shallot(sp)  
on the today show in the 1970’s to explain her disappearence.

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disappeared/83396/2 "2001-09-24T13:13:47Z")

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Fatman, when you start a topic, it’s helpful to provide a link to the Column that you are discussing. That way, people reading your comments can easily check what you’re commenting on. Helps keep us all on the same page.

Link to Cecil’s Column: [Has any famous person successfully faked his own death?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010921.html)

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**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-disappeared/83396/3 "2001-09-27T14:20:26Z")

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I’m pretty sure that you’re thinking of the wrong person. It was Alberta Hunter, not Bessie Smith, who quit singing for a while (because she wasn’t making enough money to live on) and became a nurse. Later she went back to singing. But in any case, this isn’t an example of someone faking their death, since she never was in hiding. She just dropped out of the public eye.