Maureen McGovern

Maureen Therese McGovern (born July 27, 1949) is an American singer and Broadway actress, well known for her renditions of the songs "The Morning After" from the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure; "We May Never Love Like This Again" from The Towering Inferno in 1974; the daughter of James Terrence McGovern and Mary Rita (née Welsh). She has Irish ancestry. He hired McGovern sight unseen to record the song, which resulted in her contracting with 20th Century Records. After it won an Oscar for Best Original Song, Following the success of "The Morning After", she received a Grammy Award nomination in 1974 for 'Best New Artist'.

During 1974, she recorded two movie themes: "We May Never Love Like This Again" from the disaster film The Towering Inferno, In 1980, McGovern made a brief appearance as Sister Angelina, the singing nun, in the comedy-disaster movie Airplane!

Broadway career and return to music

At the beginning of the 1980s, McGovern gave up singing movie themes to begin a career on Broadway (her first foray into acting). During 1981, she made her Broadway debut as Mabel in a revival of Gilbert & Sullivan's musical The Pirates of Penzance, taking over from fellow 1970s popular singer Linda Ronstadt. She then performed in two productions with the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera: The Sound of Music (1981; as Maria) and South Pacific (1982; as Nellie Forbush). She returned to Broadway in 1982 to replace Karen Akers in Nine starring alongside Raul Julia. She continued her theatrical career throughout the 1980s and originated the role of Mary in the Off-Broadway production of Brownstone in 1985. In 2005 she originated the role of Marmee in Little Women The Musical.

She slowly returned to music during the mid-1980s, contributing songs to musical soundtracks and recording for various-artist compilations. She also returned to touring and performing in concerts and began establishing herself as a nightclub and cabaret performer. Starting in 1987, she released three albums for CBS in three years: Another Woman in Love (a voice/piano album), State of the Heart (a fully orchestrated album), and Naughty Baby (recorded live on November 20, 1988, Studio A at Clinton Recording Studios, New York City, it features an early first recording of a lost Gershwin song, "A Corner of Heaven With You" (written ca. 1917). Naughty Baby was released in 1989 coinciding with McGovern's Gershwin concert at Carnegie Hall.

Later career

From the 1990s into the 21st century, McGovern continued her careers in musical theatre, performing in concerts, and recording albums, and she occasionally made guest appearances on television. Other recordings include Baby I'm Yours (1992), a collection of her favorite songs from 1955 to 1970, and Out of This World (1996), a collection of songs by Harold Arlen. She was nominated twice for a Grammy, for her albums The Music Never Ends (1997), a collection of songs by Alan & Marilyn Bergman, and The Pleasure of His Company (1998), another voice/piano album. McGovern voiced the character of Rachel in the animated film Joseph: King of Dreams.

In 2003, Out of This World and The Music Never Ends were re-released by Fynsworth Alley Records; both albums included bonus tracks, the former two, and the latter three.

In 2005, McGovern returned to the Broadway stage as Marmee opposite Sutton Foster's Jo in the musical adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. With negative reviews, it ended quickly, but McGovern reprised her role for the successful subsequent national tour.

In 2012, she was listed as a guest star with The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies at the Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs, California.

McGovern was scheduled to headline the North Coast Men's Chorus 30th Anniversary Concert on March 24, 2018, at the KeyBank State Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio.

Retirement from performing

In 2021, McGovern was diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy, which is thought to be a form of Alzheimer's disease. She publicly announced her diagnosis the following year, saying she would no longer perform in concert, but planned to continue working on musical projects for children, and advocating for musical therapy. , she lives at a retirement community in Columbus, Ohio.

!width="40"|US AC

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| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1973

|"The Morning After"

| style="text-align:center;"|1

| style="text-align:center;"|6

| style="text-align:center;"|1

| style="text-align:center;"|4

| style="text-align:center;"|3

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|rowspan="2"|The Morning After

|"I Won't Last a Day Without You"

| style="text-align:center;"|89

| style="text-align:center;"|14

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|12

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"|1974

|"Nice to Be Around"

| style="text-align:center;"|101

| style="text-align:center;"|28

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|88

| style="text-align:center;"|8

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|rowspan="2"|Nice to Be Around

|"Give Me a Reason to Be Gone"

| style="text-align:center;"|71

| style="text-align:center;"|12

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|50

| style="text-align:center;"|16

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|"We May Never Love Like This Again"

| style="text-align:center;"|83

| style="text-align:center;"|20

| style="text-align:center;"|5

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|Academy Award Performance

| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1975

|"Even Better Than I Know Myself"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|65

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|rowspan="2"

|"Love Songs Are Getting Harder to Sing"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|24

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|1976

|"The Continental"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|16

|Academy Award Performance

| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1978

|"Can You Read My Mind"

| style="text-align:center;"|52

| style="text-align:center;"|5

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|68

| style="text-align:center;"|40

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|rowspan="4"|Maureen McGovern

|"Very Special Love"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1979

|"Different Worlds"

| style="text-align:center;"|18

| style="text-align:center;"|1

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|48

| style="text-align:center;"|1

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|"Can't Take My Eyes Off You"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|27

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|5

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1980

|"We Could Have It All"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|16

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|6

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|rowspan="4"

|"Bottom Line"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|1981

|"Halfway Home"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|24

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|1985

|"A Love Until the End of Time"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|54

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|1987

|"I Could Have Been a Sailor"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|Another Woman in Love

| style="text-align:center;"|1988

|"The Same Moon"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|State of the Heart

| style="text-align:center;"|1992

|"You Belong to Me"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|Baby I'm Yours

| style="text-align:center;"|1996

|"Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|Out of This World

References

External links

Maureen McGovern at Discogs