July 17, 1959: Billie Holiday Dies

July 17, 1959: Billie Holiday dies. She was only 44 years old.

Eleanora Fagan was born on April 7, 1915 -- 2 days after Jack Johnson lost, or gave up, the Heavyweight Championship of the World -- in Philadelphia. Her mother, Sadie Fagan, was 19, and living with her sister at the time. Her father, Clarence Halliday, a.k.a. Clarence Holiday, was a guitarist with several jazz groups, including the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. But he was 16 when Eleanora was born, and he was never around as she was growing up, so his daughter's foray into jazz was pretty much a coincidence.

Eleanora grew up in her parents' hometown of Baltimore. Like Babe Ruth, she was sent to a Catholic reform school in that city, in her case an all-girls school. She didn't stay there long, but the experience left her emotionally scarred.

Her mother searched for jobs up and down the Northeast Corridor, ending up in Harlem in 1928. Eleanora joined her there the next year, at 14. She renamed herself Billie Holiday, adjusting her father's surname, and taking "Billie" from an actress she liked, Billie Dove.

In early 1933, Columbia Records producer John Hammond went to Covan's on West 132nd Street, expecting to hear a singer he liked, Monette Moore. He didn't know that Moore had been replaced by 17-year-old Holiday. He said of her, "Her singing almost changed my music tastes and my musical life, because she was the first girl singer I'd come across who actually sang like an improvising jazz genius." He "discovered" her, and he had her record with Benny Goodman later that year.

By 1935, she was a recording star, with pianist Teddy Wilson. She even appeared in Duke Ellington's 9-minute film "Symphony in Black," singing "Saddest Tale." Saxophone player Lester Young was a renter at her mother's boarding house, and he and Billie became close friends and recording partners. (But, despite the speculation of fans, according to every biographer of either one, they were never lovers.) He gave her the nickname "Lady Day." She gave him the nickname "Prez," short for "President."

In 1939, she recorded Abel Meeropol's anti-lynching song "Strange Fruit." This made her, retroactively, a civil rights icon. By 1947, she was the biggest jazz singer, male or female, of all time. True, there was Louis Armstrong. But he was considered a trumpeter first and a singer second.

But she had fallen victim to alcoholism and heroin addiction. She was arrested for possession on May 16, 1947. She recalled the case: "It was called 'The United States of America versus Billie Holiday.'.And that's just the way it felt." Her own lawyer would not come to the trial to represent her. "In plain English, that meant no one in the world was interested in looking out for me," she said. Dehydrated and unable to hold down food, she pleaded guilty, and asked to be sent to the hospital.

Frank Hogan, District Attorney for New York County from 1942 to 1974, actually spoke in her defense before her sentencing: "If your honor please, this is a case of a drug addict. But more serious, however, than most of our cases, Miss Holiday is a professional entertainer, and among the higher rank as far as income was concerned." She was sentenced to Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia, and released after less than a year.

But the conviction caused her to lose her New York City Cabaret Card, preventing her working anywhere that sold alcohol. Thereafter, she performed in concert venues and theaters -- when her health allowed. On March 27, 1948, just 11 days after her release, and with no current hit record to support her, she gave a sold-out concert -- at Carnegie Hall, New York's premier classical music venue.

Songs like "God Bless the Child," "I've Got a Right to Sing the Blues" and "Autumn In New York" became standards. But, like both of her parents, her personal life would always be a mess: She married 3 times, took lovers of both genders, and never had any children. She couldn't stop the drinking and the drugs. And her 3rd and last husband, a Mob enforcer named Louis McKay, robbed her of her royalties: She died with 70 cents in the bank.

On May 31, 1959, she checked into Metropolitan Hospital in New York. On the orders of Harry Anslinger, Commissioner of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Federal Bureau of Narcotics, police went to her hospital room, claiming they had found heroin in her bedroom. A grand jury was summoned to indict her, and she was arrested, handcuffed to her bed, and placed under police guard. After 10 days, methadone was discontinued, on Anslinger's orders.

She died on July 17, 1959 -- with some appropriateness, in the middle of the night, at 3:10 AM. Johann Hari, one of her biographers, has flat-out accused Anslinger of being responsible for her death.

Her memoir Lady Sings the Blues was made into a 1972 film, and Diana Ross was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for playing her. Andra Day played Billie in the 2021 film The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

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July 17, 1959 was a Friday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees are playing the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium. After 8 innings, the game is tied, 0-0, but Yankee pitcher Ralph Terry is pitching a no-hitter.

In the top of the 9th inning, Jim McAnany ruins the no-hitter with a single to center field. Mel Allen, broadcasting the game on New York's WPIX-Channel 11, asks his station director to re-play the videotape on the air.

The broadcast does not survive, so it's not clear whether he wanted to see whether the ball was caught cleanly for an out, or whether the throw to first was close.

Nothing changed with how the hit was scored, of course. Opposing pitcher Early Wynn bunted McAnany over, and, despite being 39 years old, beat it out. Luis Aparicio then bunted the runners over. Nellie Fox was walked intentionally, to set up the inning-ending double play. It didn't work: Jim Landis singled home McAnany and Wynn. Wynn held the Yankees off in the bottom of the 9th, and the ChiSox won, 2-0. I have a separate entry for this event.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-7 at Fenway Park in Boston. Rocky Colavito hit a home run for the Tribe. The Indians finished 2nd to the White Sox, and if they had won the Pennant instead, Colavito probably would have won the MVP. Ted Williams went 0-for-2 with a walk for the BoSox, then was removed for defensive purposes. The Indians nearly blew an 8-1 lead, as the Sox scored 3 runs in the 7th and 3 in the 9th, but it wasn't enough.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Connie Mack Stadium (formerly Shibe Park) in Philadelphia. Duke Snider went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI. Harry Anderson (no relation to the Night Court star of the same name) hit a home run for the Phils.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson hit a home run for the Orioles. Al Kaline did not play for the Tigers.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Washington Senators, 7-4 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Roger Maris went 3-for-5 with an RBI for the A's. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-4 for the Senators. Each had just gone to his 1st All-Star Game

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Willie Mays went 1-for-5. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 1-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Art Ceccarelli pitched a 6-hit shutout. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4. Frank Robinson went 0-for-1... with 3 walks.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Braves, 4-3 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Hank Aaron went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Stan Musial did not play for the Cards.