Monica Lewis
Date of Birth
Monica Lewis was a singer and actress best known for voicing the Chiquita banana cartoons and for her roles in the disaster films Rollercoaster, Earthquake, Airport 1975 and The Concorde…Airport ’79.
Born into a musical family (her father was a composer, her mother was an opera singer and her sister was a classical pianist), Lewis studied voice with her mother and was a radio vocalist by 17, and debuted at the famed Stork Club soon after. In 1943 she became a Benny Goodman vocalist, performing on Goodman's national radio program the same day she auditioned for the job.
In 1945 she was briefly married to independent record label owner Bob Thiele, with whom she released a series of hit songs, including “Put the Blame on Mame” and “The House I Live In.” Two years later she introduced Ed Sullivan to her brother Marlo, and together they created Sullivan’s variety show, Toast of the Town. Lewis headlined the premiere episode, which also included appearances by composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein and comedy team Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In 1947 she became the voice behind the animated Chiquita banana commercials, meant to educate audiences on how to store and serve what was then an exotic fruit. The commercials ran for 14 years.
Monica Lewis was a singer and actress best known for voicing the Chiquita banana cartoons and for her roles in the disaster films Rollercoaster, Earthquake, Airport 1975 and The Concorde…Airport ’79.
Born into a musical family (her father was a composer, her mother was an opera singer and her sister was a classical pianist), Lewis studied voice with her mother and was a radio vocalist by 17, and debuted at the famed Stork Club soon after. In 1943 she became a Benny Goodman vocalist, performing on Goodman's national radio program the same day she auditioned for the job.
In 1945 she was briefly married to independent record label owner Bob Thiele, with whom she released a series of hit songs, including “Put the Blame on Mame” and “The House I Live In.” Two years later she introduced Ed Sullivan to her brother Marlo, and together they created Sullivan’s variety show, Toast of the Town. Lewis headlined the premiere episode, which also included appearances by composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein and comedy team Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. In 1947 she became the voice behind the animated Chiquita banana commercials, meant to educate audiences on how to store and serve what was then an exotic fruit. The commercials ran for 14 years.
She also appeared in a variety of television series, including Make Room for Daddy, Studio 57, The Jackie Gleason Show, Peter Gunn, M Squad, Tales of Wells Fargo, Riverboat, The Deputy, Overland Trail, Laramie, General Electric Theater, Wagon Train, The Virginian, Night Gallery, Ironside, Quincy M.E., Remington Steele, Falcon Crest and Marcus Welby, M.D.
Lewis died June 12, 2015, in Woodland Hills, California. She was 93.
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