At the Trocadero, a local Chicago night club, Julie LaVerne, the former leading lady of the show boat, is the featured singer.
Julie, who is of mixed blood, has been permanently abandoned by her white husband, Steve Baker, years after the two were forced to leave the show boat because of their interracial (and therefore illegal) marriage.
"Bill" became one of Helen Morgan's signature songs, and onstage she sang it in her trademark style, sitting atop a piano.
[2] Lena Horne was filmed singing "Bill" for the Jerome Kern biopic Till the Clouds Roll By, but the scene was eventually cut.
Ava Gardner, using the dubbed-in voice of Annette Warren, was portrayed as singing the song in the 1951 Technicolor remake of Show Boat.