Departures of note

Ten days into World War II, Inga Andersen became the first entertainer to perform for British troops, beginning a six-year commitment that took her to front lines, bombed-out buildings, and blackout conditions across Europe. She earned the nickname “The Blackout Girl” for performing where few others would, and her propaganda songs such as “Hail Adolph” reportedly placed her in the top ten of Hitler’s execution list. During the Battle of Monte Cassino, she became lost and ended up behind German lines, playing to 80,000 soldiers; one American asked, “What in the name of blankety-blank are you doing here!?”

Born in Buenos Aires to Danish parents, Andersen moved with her family to Prince George, British Columbia, in 1912. She learned dance from her mother, then followed a correspondence course promising stardom “in 15 easy lessons,” and refined her skills through summer courses in Detroit, New York, Pittsburgh, and Seattle. After studying at the Barbes School of Dance in Vancouver, she returned to Prince George at age 16 to teach young girls—and even fur trappers—to dance. With her earnings, she went to Hollywood.

In Los Angeles, she trained at Albertina Rasch’s studio in 1929 and became an instructor there in 1930. She toured with the Rasch troupe across the U.S., performed in New York in The Girl of the Golden West and Ballyhoo, and joined the Ziegfeld Follies. Rasch then brought her to England for Wild Violets, which opened at Drury Lane in 1932 and toured the UK and South Africa. She also toured the U.S. as one of the “Seven Albertina Dancers.” In England, she starred in and choreographed Jack and Jill (1934) and starred in Jack O’Diamonds (1935). By the late 1930s, she was a BBC regular and London cabaret performer, billed as “Canada’s Sophisticated Songstress.”

During the war, Andersen performed at the Cafe de Paris, the Churchill Club, and Bagatelle in Mayfair, and starred in London shows including Fig Leaves (1940), Du Barry Was a Lady (1942), and Flying Colours (1943). She continued entertaining troops for two years after the war ended. Later, she sang in New York at the Illustrator’s Club, La Rue Restaurant, and Le Vouvray, and taught Latin American dancing at the Fred Astaire Studios. She returned to Prince George in the late 1950s and died there on September 28, 1959, at age 50.