Jeanette MacDonald was one of the screen's best-loved singing actresses. The image of the star, greeting the famous earthquake with a song in San Francisco (1936), is forever enshrined in the popular consciousness—an image further immortalized by the verse to Judy Garland's recording of the title song, which recalls how Jeanette "stood among the ruins and sang." She became, and remains, however, equally well-known for her screen partnership with Nelson Eddy. The couple, universally known as "America's Singing Sweethearts" at the height of their popularity during the 1930s, epitomized the lush romantic world of the film operetta in eight films, beginning with Naughty Marietta (1935).

Born on June 18, 1903 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, MacDonald showed promise as a dancer and singer from a very young age. She began her professional career as a chorus girl on Broadway before assuming lead roles in musicals such as Tangerine (1922) and...