CBC: Life And Times

Let me Sing Again: The Life and Times of Alys Robi

Before Celine Dion, there was Alys Robi, Canada's first enormously popular recording artist. This international forties nightclub diva saw her career collapse and end in tragedy. The extraordinary story of Alys Robi and her comeback - Let Me Sing Again - is told on Life and Times.

Alys Robi shared the stage with the world's biggest stars such as Nat King Cole and Jack Benny and was taught to dance by Sammy Davis Jr. Although her musical career was a triumph, her personal life took a tragic turn. On the brink of achieving stardom in Hollywood, Alys Robi sank into a depression after a disastrous love affair. She was put into a Quebec City mental hospital. But after surviving a lobotomy and electric shock treatments, Robi returned to Montreal for a courageous comeback.

Alys Robi

This year, Alys Robi marks her seventieth anniversary in show business and Let Me Sing Again documents the success and turbulence of her life. It is the story of a woman who was ahead of her time. In the documentary, Alys Robi takes viewers to the forgotten world of Montreal's vaudeville era and to the glittery nightclubs of the thirties and forties, and later to the war years when she entertained Canadian troops both at home and abroad.

After six years in a mental hospital, Alys Robi struggled to come back. Let Me Sing Again deals with the anguish of being banished from the mainstream, only to be welcomed into a then marginalized gay community. The saga of Alys Robi is unique in the annals of Canadian entertainment history; it is the story of a brave and tenacious woman who has become a legend. This documentary features the music of Alys Robi and interviews with people who have known her during her long career.

Original Air Date - February 8, 1999

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