# 'Diva of din': 'World's worst singer' movie based on true story. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diva-of-din-worlds-worst-singer-movie-based-on-true-story/750857 "2016-04-01T18:27:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diva-of-din-worlds-worst-singer-movie-based-on-true-story/750857/1 "2016-04-01T18:27:54Z")
The film will feature Meryl Streep as Florence, Hugh Grant and Simon Helberg. Based on a bizarre and true story of a wealthy socialite that was blissfully unaware that she couldn’t sing. A true _The Emperor’s New Clothes_ story. It seems that rich people can easily fall into these deluded traps because they live in a bubble where no one contradicts or challenges them. John du Pont (heir to to Du Pont fortune) was a patron of Olympic Wrestling. Giving large donations and providing a training facility on his estate. But he also thought he could wrestle. :rolleyes: These champion wrestlers let him beat them because they needed his sponsorship. This went on for years until it ended tragically. John du Pont murdered one of the wrestlers after an argument. theres a 30 second clip of Florence singing. :eek: yeah, she was terrible. > **['World's worst singer' had no idea the world was mocking her](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3518662/The-heartbreaking-delusions-Diva-din-World-s-worst-singer-Florence-Foster-Jenkins-no-idea-world-mocking-terrible-voice-truth-killed-her.html)** > > Florence Foster Jenkins started performing in New York in 1900 but was protected from criticism by her husband. She died two days after a largely ridiculed public performance in 1944. > [@](#): > > The reality of her terrible voice was kept under wraps for decades as her husband organised ‘invitation only’ events. Footage of crowds showed them applauding even louder if anyone booed. > > It is thought those who came to see her - and applaud - did for two reasons; they knew she was wealthy and a patron of the New York arts scene and also enjoyed being able to say they had seen the singer at social events. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diva-of-din-worlds-worst-singer-movie-based-on-true-story/750857/2 "2016-04-01T18:34:06Z")
I hadn’t heard of this case. When I read the thread title, I thought it must refer to the infamous Cherry Sisters, who were similarly unaware of their famed awfulness (or so it is generally believed) > [@](#): > > In the early 20th century, the Cherry Sisters — a family of performers from Marion, Iowa — were like a meme. > > Simply invoking the name — the Cherry Sisters — was shorthand for anything awful. As Anthony Slide wrote in the Encyclopedia of Vaudeville, the onstage siblings became “synonymous with any act devoid of talent.” > > Apparently, they were a cross between early American performance art and age old scapegoatism. Their variety act included original music, bass drum thumping, poetry, mouth harp playing, inspirational recitations, essay reading, fake hypnosis and other artistic expressions. And the audience responded to the whole shebang by hurling vegetables, shouting interjections and behaving rudely. > > “People enjoyed tossing tomatoes and whatever at them,” says David Soren, acting curator of the American Vaudeville Museum Collection at the University of Arizona. “The Cherry Sisters were generally regarded as the worst ever.” > > But the Cherry Sisters also signified something else in American comedy history. In the tradition of Tiny Tim, Andy Kaufman and certain other deadpan comics, the questions always hovered around them: Were they sincere? Were they in on the joke? Did they even care what people thought? > [@](#): > > The Cherry Sisters’ vaudeville act, Something Good, Something Sad, was infamous for its poor quality and the vehement responses it elicited by audiences, who threw vegetables and disrupted performances. The sisters toured with the act for ten years, during which time they briefly appeared on Broadway. In 1898 they sued two Iowa newspapers for libel after they printed a scathing review of Something Good, Something Sad. The case eventually went to the Iowa Supreme Court, which ruled in the newspapers’ favor and set a precedent for the right to fair comment. > > The Cherry Sisters’ act dissolved after the sudden death of the youngest member of the group, Jessie. The rest of the sisters went on to other ventures and opened a bakery, but died in modest circumstances. > **[Cherry Sisters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Sisters)** > > The Cherry Sisters – Addie (1859–1942), Effie (1867–1944), Ella (1854–1934), Lizzie (1857–1936), and Jessie Cherry (1871–1903) – were five sisters from Marion, Iowa who formed a notorious vaudeville touring act in the late 19th century. They were also the plaintiffs in a landmark 1901 legal case heard by the Iowa Supreme Court, Cherry v. Des Moines Leader, which was instrumental in establishing and confirming the right of the press to fair comment. > The Cherry Sisters' vaudeville act, Something ... > **[The Cherry Sisters: Worst Act Ever?](https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/06/27/417439984/the-cherry-sisters-worst-act-ever)** > > How a group of perhaps-clueless farmgirls from Iowa rose to theatrical fame and infamy at the same time. There were rumors that one of the sisters had made a recording, but it hasn’t turned up, despite attempts to find it. So we don’t know how they sounded. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diva-of-din-worlds-worst-singer-movie-based-on-true-story/750857/3 "2016-04-01T18:40:38Z")
I had heard of the Streep movie coming, but _[Marguerite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_(film))_ a French film on the same subject just opened this weekend. The Streep is a biopic, while _Marguerite_ fictionalizes the story. The Streep film was announced while _Margurite_ was filming. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diva-of-din-worlds-worst-singer-movie-based-on-true-story/750857/4 "2016-04-01T18:43:56Z")
Jay Leno has mentioned tone deaf comics that were convinced they were doing great. The audience loved me! They were hearing applause and laughs that wasn’t really there. Most performers struggle early in their career. They aren’t very good and it takes perseverance and experience to learn their craft. But some people just don’t have the talent for the arts. No matter how hard they study and try. They can get deluded and waste their entire lives. Unless somebody they respect tells them the hard truth. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diva-of-din-worlds-worst-singer-movie-based-on-true-story/750857/5 "2016-04-01T19:13:16Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > … blissfully unaware that she couldn’t sing. She knew. _“people might say I couldn’t sing but nobody can say I didn’t sing…”_ ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diva-of-din-worlds-worst-singer-movie-based-on-true-story/750857/6 "2016-04-01T22:15:52Z")
Interesting choice of casting, since Meryl Streep is actually a [very good singer.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1673-X7mAA) This movie sounds like a hoot. Can’t wait to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diva-of-din-worlds-worst-singer-movie-based-on-true-story/750857/7 "2016-04-01T22:19:34Z")
I had her record years ago. It was quite delightful. The Queen of the Night aria was the highlight, or something. They didn’t have enough material of hers for both an A and a B side, but fortunately somebody found a recording of two almost-as-bad singers making their way through highlights from Gounod’s Faust, including the final trio, which they sang as a duet. Best in very small doses, but great fun. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diva-of-din-worlds-worst-singer-movie-based-on-true-story/750857/8 "2016-04-01T22:42:28Z")
I liked the L&O Criminal Intent [version](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0629598/). Probably no murder in the real life version though. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diva-of-din-worlds-worst-singer-movie-based-on-true-story/750857/9 "2016-04-01T23:12:51Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Interesting choice of casting, since Meryl Streep is actually a [very good singer.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1673-X7mAA) It’s actually harder than you might think to deliberately sing badly. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diva-of-din-worlds-worst-singer-movie-based-on-true-story/750857/10 "2016-04-04T22:24:21Z")
I saw the Broadway version of this ( **Souvenir** ) with Judy Kaye as Florence Foster Jenkins when it ran back in 2005. Another example of someone who actually _can_ sing playing the role of one who can’t.