Helen Kane on AllMovie

American actress and singer Helen Kane may best be remembered as the original "Boop-boop-a-doop" girl. A native of the Bronx, born Helen Schroeder, Kane got her start in vaudeville working with the Marx Brothers at age 17. In 1927, she made her Broadway debut in A Night in Spain, a musical. In 1928, Kane appeared in the musical Good Boy the show that produced her signature song "I Wanna Be Loved by You" with its boop-boop-a-doop tagline that Kane sang in a little girl's voice. She eventually became a contract player with Paramount and appeared in a few films. While at the studio, she became the inspiration for the animated cartoon character Betty Boop and launched a whole new series for animator Max Fleischer. Boop was first drawn by Grim Natwick who used Kane's face and physical features and combined them with those of a French poodle. In 1950, Kane was played by Debbie Reynolds in the feature biography of songwriters Kalmar and Ruby. When Reynolds sang "I Wanna Be Loved by You," Kane dubbed in her famous line.