WILKES-BARRE -- The movie "Florence Foster Jenkins" opens Friday in theaters. Set in the 1940s, it is the true story about a woman known for her lack of skills as a singer. But did you know that woman was from Wilkes-Barre?
“She thought she arrived, she made it onto the scene, but behind the scenes, everybody is making fun of her!” said Tony Brooks, President of the Wilkes-Barre Preservation Society.
Foster Jenkins grew up in a house on S. Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre. Her family even attended St. Stephen's Episcopal Church down the street. Foster Jenkins eventually left her family and moved to New York to pursue her career. Then, when she died in 1944 at 76-years-old, she was laid to rest in her family's mausoleum at the Hollenback Cemetery in Wilkes-Barre.
Darryl Bullock of England wrote a biography on her.
“She didn't really hit worldwide stardom until 10 years after she died, I mean it was the release of her recordings in 1954 that brought her to a much wider audience,” he said over Skype.
"I think it's a very charming story, a very can-do attitude that she can do it and I love it, I can't wait to see the movie,” Brooks added.
Meryl Streep, who is playing Madame Foster Jenkins, has been invited to see her mausoleum in Wilkes-Barre next month. There is no word yet on if she might actually show.
Below are a few of Florence Foster Jenkins' recordings
Florence Foster Jenkins - Mozart's aria Queen of Night
Florence Foster Jenkins - "Adele's Laughing Song."(Die Fledermaus)
