Background
Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell grew up in Toledo, Ohio.
Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell grew up in Toledo, Ohio.
O'Connell launched her career as a big-band singer with Larry Funk and his Band of a Thousand Melodies. She was singing with Funk's band in Greenwich Village when Jimmy Dorsey's manager discovered her. In each of these Latin-influenced numbers, Bob Eberly crooned the song which Helen then reprised in an up-tempo arrangement.
In a 1993 obituary article, the Associated Press described O'Connell as "the darling of GIs during World War II". In 1953, O'Connell and Bob Eberly headlined TV's Top Tunes, a summer replacement program for Perry Como's CBS television show. The program also featured Ray Anthony and his orchestra.
O'Connell also was the featured singer on The Russ Morgan Show on CBS TV in 1956. In 1957, she had her own 15-minute program, The Helen O'Connell Show, twice a week on NBC. Helen was one of the first "girls" on NBC's The Today Show, commenting at the time, "I wasn't hired as a singer, I was hired as a talker, a pleasant switch." She had that role from 1956 to 1958. In 1961, Helen co-hosted the Desilu-NBC program, Here's Hollywood, conducting interviews with celebrities, often in their own homes.
O'Connell sang duets with Bing Crosby, Johnny Mercer, and Dean Martin. She also sang the National Anthem for Super Bowl XV in 1981. O'Connell's 1942 recording of Brazil with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra was a 2009 addition to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 1992, Helen was featured along with The Andrews Sisters and Kay Starr in the KCET special, "Those Fabulous 40s". O'Connell was married to businessman Clifford Smith Jr. from 1941 to 1951 and novelist Tom T. Chamales from 1957 to 1960 and had four children. Her last marriage was in 1991, to arranger-conductor-composer Frank De Vol.
It ended with her death on September 9, 1993, in San Diego, California following a battle with Hepatitis C.