{{short description|American singer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Elida Morris | birth_name = Elida Mary Morris | image = | caption = | alias = Elida Morris Cooper | birth_date = {{birth date|1886|11|12}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|1977|12|25|1886|11|12}} | death_place = Santa Barbara, California, United States | origin = | genre = Popular music, vaudeville | occupation = Singer, comedian, actress | years_active = c. 1905–23 | label = Victor, Columbia | associated_acts = | website = }}
'''Elida Mary Morris''' (November 12, 1886 – December 25, 1977), later '''Elida Morris Cooper''', was an American vaudeville singer, comedian and actress.
She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<ref name=passport1912>[http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/1174/USM1490_172-0335/463072?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3frank%3d1%26new%3d1%26MSAV%3d1%26msT%3d1%26gss%3dangs-g%26gsfn%3dElida%2b%26gsln%3dMorris%26msbdy%3d1886%26msddy%3d1977%26cpxt%3d1%26catBucket%3drstp%26uidh%3djq5%26cp%3d12%26pcat%3dROOT_CATEGORY%26h%3d463072%26recoff%3d5%2b7%26db%3dUSpassports%26indiv%3d1&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord US Passport Application, 1912]. Retrieved June 4, 2013</ref> She started her career in minstrel shows,<ref name="whitburn memories">{{cite book| last1 = Whitburn| first1 = Joel| title = Pop Memories 1890–1954: The History of American Popular Music| location = Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin| publisher = Record Research, Inc.| year = 1986| pages = [https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/324 324]| isbn = 0-89820-083-0| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/324}}</ref> and first recorded for Victor Records in 1910.<ref>[http://victor.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/14945/Morris_Elida_vocalist_soprano_vocal Victor Records discography]. Retrieved June 4, 2013</ref> A soprano, she also recorded for Columbia. Her successful solo recordings included "Kiss Me, My Honey, Kiss Me" (1910) and "If I Had Someone at Home Like You" (1914).<ref name="whitburn memories"/> One of her successes in 1910 was "Stop, Stop, Stop (Come Over and Love Me Some More)", written by Irving Berlin, which she sang with "considerable rhythmic and melodic freedom... speaking the key words "Stop, stop, stop" in an obviously provocative way".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=gOBVWBtwO7gC&dq=%22elida+morris%22&pg=PA61 Charles Hamm, ''Genre, Performance and Ideology in the Early Songs of Irving Berlin'', in Simon Frith (ed.), ''Popular music. Vol. 3: Popular music analysis'', Routledge, 2004, p.61]</ref>
She sang in the new "syncopated" style, and was sometimes described as a "coon shouter".<ref name=newworld/> In a 1912 Victor catalog, she was described as "The Girl Who Chases Away All Gloom".<ref>[http://78records.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/100-years-ago-at-the-victor-talking-machine-company-highlights-from-the-april-1912-catalog/ The Mainspring Press Record Collectors' Blog, ''100 Years Ago at the Victor Talking Machine Company: Highlights from the April 1912 Catalog'', 30 March 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130703185910/http://78records.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/100-years-ago-at-the-victor-talking-machine-company-highlights-from-the-april-1912-catalog/ |date=July 3, 2013 }}. Retrieved June 4, 2013</ref> She recorded "Play Me a Good Old-Fashioned Melody" in 1912; the sheet music cover showed her as a male impersonator, but it is unclear whether this was a regular part of her vaudeville performances.<ref name=queer>[http://www.queermusicheritage.us/drag-SH-morris.html ''Elida Morris, male impersonator, 1912,'' at Queer Music Heritage]. Retrieved June 4, 2013</ref> She also recorded in duos with Billy Murray ("Angel Eyes", 1910), Walter Van Brunt ("I've Got Your Number", 1911), and Sam Ash ("Hello, Frisco!", from ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1915'').<ref name="whitburn memories"/>
She appeared in ''The Passing Show of 1916'', a novelty vaudeville show starring Ed Wynn.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0705619/otherworks IMDb: The Passing Show of 1916]. Retrieved June 4, 2013</ref> The programme notes report her as saying: "I would love a husband... if I could find one that suited. I would just love to be the boss, you understand, if I launched into matrimony, because it is the age of equal rights and I just love the suffrage idea."<ref name=queer/> She also sang in opera.<ref name=newworld/> She made at least four trips to perform in England between 1912 and 1920,<ref name=passport1912/><ref>[http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/1174/USM1490_396-0209/860594?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3frank%3d1%26new%3d1%26MSAV%3d1%26msT%3d1%26gss%3dangs-g%26gsfn%3dElida%2b%26gsln%3dMorris%26msbdy%3d1886%26msddy%3d1977%26cpxt%3d1%26catBucket%3drstp%26uidh%3djq5%26cp%3d12%26pcat%3dROOT_CATEGORY%26h%3d860594%26recoff%3d5%2b7%2b33%26db%3dUSpassports%26indiv%3d1&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord US Passport Application, 1917]. Retrieved June 4, 2013</ref><ref>[http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/1174/USM1490_648-0870/897254?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3frank%3d1%26new%3d1%26MSAV%3d1%26msT%3d1%26gss%3dangs-g%26gsfn%3dElida%2b%26gsln%3dMorris%26msbdy%3d1886%26msddy%3d1977%26cpxt%3d1%26catBucket%3drstp%26uidh%3djq5%26cp%3d12%26pcat%3dROOT_CATEGORY%26h%3d897254%26recoff%3d5%2b7%2b37%26db%3dUSpassports%26indiv%3d1&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord US Passport Application, 1918]. Retrieved June 4, 2013</ref><ref name=passport1920>[http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/1174/USM1490_1188-0432/654817?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3frank%3d1%26new%3d1%26MSAV%3d1%26msT%3d1%26gss%3dangs-g%26gsfn%3dElida%2b%26gsln%3dMorris%26msbdy%3d1886%26msddy%3d1977%26cpxt%3d1%26catBucket%3drstp%26uidh%3djq5%26cp%3d12%26pcat%3dROOT_CATEGORY%26h%3d654817%26recoff%3d5%2b7%2b33%26db%3dUSpassports%26indiv%3d1&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord US Passport Application, 1920]. Retrieved June 4, 2013</ref> and also performed in France and South Africa.<ref name=newworld>[http://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80233.pdf Liner notes to ''Come Josephine in my Flying Machine: Inventions and Topics in Popular Song 1910–1929'', New World Records] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040414133717/http://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80233.pdf |date=April 14, 2004 }}. Retrieved June 5, 2013</ref>
In 1923 she married Norwood R. Cooper,<ref>[http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=angs-g&gsfn=Elida+&gsln=Morris&msbdy=1886&msddy=1977&msgdy=1923&cpxt=1&catBucket=rstp&uidh=jq5&cp=12&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=1961907&recoff=7+9&db=FSPhilPAMarriage&indiv=1 Philadelphia, PA, Marriage Index, 1923]. Retrieved June 4, 2013</ref> and retired from the stage. She became one of the founder members of the Women's Aeronautical Association, an organisation to which Amelia Earhart also belonged. In 1932 she launched a vocal training studio in Van Nuys, Los Angeles,<ref>[https://newspaperarchive.com/van-nuys-news/1937-11-01/page-4 ''The Van Nuys News'', November 1, 1932, p.4]</ref> and in World War II she became Director of Volunteer Camp Shows, booking stars to entertain US troops. She was reportedly still active in her church choir in 1973.<ref name=newworld/>
She died in Santa Barbara, California in 1977 at the age of 91.
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Elida}} Category:1886 births Category:1977 deaths Category:American sopranos Category:American vaudeville performers Category:Actresses from Philadelphia Category:20th-century American singers Category:20th-century American women singers