Lillian Roth
Actress-singer Lillian Roth's 1954 bestselling autobiography, "I'll Cry Tomorrow," detailed her struggles with alcoholism and mental illness.
Her book, written with Gerold Frank, recounts how she was pushed into show business by her parents at an early age and describes her early successes and failed romances, her bouts with depression and drinking, and how she made a dramatic comeback.
In 1955, the book was made into a critically acclaimed movie that starred Susan Hayward.
Roth began her acting career at 6 with a New York film company. By the time she was 8, she was hailed as Broadway's youngest star and won the featured role in the play "Shavings."
In her teens she performed in Earl Carroll's "Vanities of 1928" and Florenz Ziegfeld's "Midnight Follies."
She then went to Hollywood, where she acted in "The Love Parade" with Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier, "Animal Crackers" with the Marx Brothers and other films.
In the 1930s, she had a series of professional triumphs that reportedly earned her more than $1 million, but she also had personal difficulties.
At 30 she was an alcoholic, had been divorced from five husbands and reportedly had lost all her money.
After the movie was made of her book, Roth made a comeback, singing in clubs, Broadway shows and on television.
She returned to Broadway in 1962 for a featured role in "I Can Get It for You Wholesale."
Her final professional appearance was in 1979, when she had a cameo role in the film "Boardwalk."
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