Alice Faye and Phil Harris
May 05, 1915 – May 09, 1998
June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995
Celebrity couples take note. This is how you do it.
Alice Faye was a singer and actor who was one of the top box office draws throughout the 1930s and ’40s. Working under contract for 20th Century Fox (and its head, Darryl Zanuck), Faye made over 30 movies during her early career including hits like In Old Chicago, Alexander’s Ragtime Band and The Gang’s All Here. Her most famous song, “You’ll Never Know” from the 1943 movie Hello, Frisco. Hello won an Academy Award and remained her signature for year.
Phil Harris started his career in show business playing in a number of swing orchestras in California, including several that he founded. He was known for his distinct baritone singing voice and comic timing. He appeared in dozens of movies and television shows over his decades-long career. In 1950, he recorded the hit novelty song “The Thing”. Harris also did extensive voice acting work including iconic roles in classic Disney films like The Jungle Book, The Aristocats and Robin Hood. His version of “The Bare Necessities” from The Jungle Book remains a fan favorite to this day.
In 1936, Harris began working with Jack Benny on his long-running radio program as Benny’s wise-cracking bandleader. He and his orchestra also appeared on Rudy Vallée‘s The Fleischmann Hour program, which regularly featured Faye as a singer. Harris and Faye married in 1941 and went on to play fictionalized versions of themselves on Benny’s show. Eventually, the characters became so well-received that the couple started their own radio sitcom. The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show ran for 6 years on NBC radio.
Though both were briefly married once before – Harris to actress Marcia Ralston and Faye to singer Tony Martin – their second marriage was the one that stuck. Faye and Harris were married for 54 years.
In 1945, Faye appeared in her final Fox movie, Fallen Angel. Upon seeing the final cut and noting that most of her scenes were removed or drastically altered, she walked off the lot and never looked back, devoting the rest of her life to her family and career with Harris. She also appeared on Broadway and made a few film cameos later in life. Harris continued his voice work and his musical career well into his golden years.
Harris died of a heart attack in 1995 at the age of 91. Three years later, at 83, Faye died from stomach cancer. Today, they can still be found right next to each other, as it should be.
Burial
Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Cathedral City, CA
Specific Location
Mission San Luis Rey Mausoleum, Niche Room West Glass, Outdoor Garden Niche 2-D; On the eastern side of the Mission San Luis Rey building, right-hand gate, roughly in the middle of the wall.
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