Ruth Etting (November 23, 1896 – September 24, 1978) was an American singer and actress during the 1920s and 1930s, who had over 60 hit recordings and worked in stage, radio, and film.

Known as "America's sweetheart of song", her signature tunes were "Shine On, Harvest Moon", "Ten Cents a Dance" and "Love Me or Leave Me".

Snyder was known for being very protective of Ruth, keeping her out of trouble in the dangerous city and referring to her as "the little lady", along with other affectionate names.

By October, Snyder traveled to Los Angeles and detained Alderman after he left a local radio station; he forced the pianist to take him to the home of his ex-wife at gunpoint.

Her fictionalized story was told in the musical film Love Me Or Leave Me (1955) with Doris Day as Ruth Etting and James Cagney as Moe Snyder.

To the delight of his granddaughter, George Etting allowed traveling circuses and shows to use the lot behind the mills for performances.

[6] Etting gained a job designing costumes at the Marigold Gardens nightclub, which led to employment singing and dancing in the chorus.

[8] Describing herself as a "high, squeaky soprano" during her days in David City, Etting developed a lower range singing voice after her arrival in Chicago which led to her success.

She quickly changed into the costume and scanned the music arrangements; the performer was male, so Etting tried to adjust by singing in a lower register.

Etting met gangster Martin "Moe the Gimp" Snyder in 1922, when she was performing at the Marigold Gardens in Chicago.

[10] Etting described herself as a young, naive girl when she arrived; and due to her inexperience in the ways of the big city, she became reliant on Snyder after their meeting.

[5] Snyder, who divorced his first wife to marry Etting, was well acquainted with Chicago's nightclubs and the entertainers who worked in them; he once served as a bodyguard to Al Jolson.

[5][14] While the original plan for the show was for Etting to do a tap dance after singing "Shaking the Blues Away", she later remembered she was not a very good dancer.

[20] Toward the end of Simple Simon's Broadway run, Etting persuaded Ziegfeld to add "Love Me Or Leave Me" to the show though the song was originally written for Whoopee!.

She had recorded the song in 1928, but Etting's new version of it was impressive enough to earn her a Vitaphone contract to make film shorts.

[27][28] Snyder's aggressive and controlling management style began to cause problems for Etting; during her work with Whoopee!

Snyder's arguing and fighting at venues where Etting was employed caused her to be passed by for jobs in the United States.

[35] In January 1938, she began receiving threatening telephone calls from Snyder, who initially claimed Etting withheld assets from him when the divorce settlement was made.

[38] Apparently believing the danger was over when Snyder did not appear soon after his telephone call, Etting released her bodyguards a few days later.

[39] On October 15, 1938, Snyder detained Myrl Alderman at a local radio station and forced the pianist to take him to his former wife at gunpoint.

[43][44] He also claimed he was drunk when he made the telephone threats to Etting in January 1938, saying that at the time his intentions were to kill both his ex-wife and himself.

[42][48] During a police reenactment of the shooting three days later, Edith Snyder said that she fired at her father to save Ruth Etting, weeping as she continued, "I don't yet know whether I am sorry I missed my Dad or whether I am glad".

[50] Three days after the shooting of Myrl Alderman, the pianist's second wife, Alma, sued Etting for alienation of her husband's affections.

[35][e] Etting publicly invited Alma Alderman to visit her husband in the hospital, in an effort to see if the couple could reconcile.

[58] Alma Alderman's lawsuit ended in December 1939, with the court finding that she was not entitled to damages from Ruth Etting.

[59] Etting testified that she agreed with her ex-husband's statement to police that Snyder was either drunk or out of his mind when he threatened her by phone.

The attorney further claimed that, had Snyder intended to kill Alderman, he would have had ample time to do so while holding a gun on the pianist during the drive from the radio station to Etting‘s home where the shooting took place.

[63] Etting married Alderman, who was almost a decade her junior, on December 14, 1938, in Las Vegas, during Moe Snyder's trial for attempted murder.

[69] Etting, who had retired from performing prior to the shooting and subsequent trials, briefly had a radio show on WHN in 1947.

[80] Shortly before her death, Etting said she thought the screen portrayal of her was too tough and that Jane Powell would have been a better choice for the lead.