Anita O'Day

American singer, a dazzling jazz performer for 56 years as of 1990. With a chaotic personal life, she survived a 14-year addiction to heroin, two prison terms for possession, a nervous breakdown, alcoholism, a rape, several abortions and two failed marriages. In 1981 she published her autobiography "High Times Hard Times."

O'Day had an unpleasant childhood with family fights and a father who left them. She began as a dancer and burlesque singer, a pro by the time she was 19. She loved her early fame, singing with big bands, the money and acclaim, the high-life with ample drugs and available men.

She appeared in three feature films including "The Gene Krupa Story," 1959.

When she survived an overdose on 4 March 1966, O'Day quit drugs cold turkey. She married in 1937, and a second time in 1943 for 12 years. By 1990 she was living in the desert community of San Jacinto, CA, still enjoying her drink but drug-free.

On 18 December 1996, she had surgery on her right arm to repair multiple fractures caused by a fall at home.

The jazz vocalist died on 23 November 2006 in Los Angeles, age 87. She had been battling pneumonia though the immediate cause of death was not given.