Lily Pons
Toronto Daily Star, October 21 1932
Lily Pons (1898-1976) went on to a distinguished career as an opera singer and actress. She appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as a principal soprano until 1960. She made three musical films for RKO Pictures between 1935 and 1937, and she appeared frequently on radio and television. She became a citizen of the United States in 1940; a town in Maryland named itself Lilypons in her honour.
The pet jaguar shown in this picture turned out to be an ocelot; named Ita, it was very attached to Ms. Pons but was deemed a hazard to visitors. It was eventually donated to the New York Zoological Gardens.
YouTube has a number of videos of Lily Pons, including footage from 1940 and 1947. She was the celebrity guest on a What's My Line? episode in 1955.
Created October 2, 2025.