Jimmy Noel

Herbert James "Jimmy" Noel was born May 15, 1903 in Haverhill Massachusetts, the youngest of four children, and son of Walter and Annie Noel. After graduating from high school, Noel worked in entertainment as a theater actor, musician, and singer. Proficient on piano, guitar, drums, banjo, and as a singer, he worked briefly for Paul Whitemanin the early 1930's, leaving in 1935. He eventually started his own band, "The Rhythm Boys," (no relation to the group with Bing Crosby), specializing in blues music. Noel was married at least twice. The first marriage was to to Delories Ziegfield (distantly related to Florenz Ziegfield) in 1933. It ended in divorce after about a year. The second marriage was to Dawn Hope, a theater actress who was the daughter of the well-known and eccentric actress Adele Blood Hope. The marriage ended after 18 months under unusual circumstances, when Dawn Hope took her life following the couple's unexpected visit to a nudist camp (neither of them was a naturalis