Billie Holiday Birth name Eleanora Fagan Birth date April 7, 1915 Place of birth Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Education The House of the Good Shepherd

Early life Billie Holiday spent most of her childhood in Baltimore, Maryland with her mother, Sadie. Her mother had her when she was only a teenager. Clarence Holiday, her father, was a successful jazz musician. However, her father wasn’t around much as she was growing up. Her mother married Phillip Gough which led Holiday into having a stable home life. When Phillip Gough left, Billie and her mother struggled. She started skipping school which led to court. Holiday found solace in music, singing along to the records of Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. She followed her mother who had moved to New York City in the late 1920s and worked in a house of prostitution in Harlem for a time. Around 1930, Holiday began singing in local clubs and renamed herself "Billie" after the film star Billie Dove.

Discovery At the age of 18, John Hammond (producer) had discovered Holiday whilst she was performing in a Harlem jazz club. Holiday went on to record with jazz pianist Teddy Wilson and others in 1935. She made several singles, including "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and "Miss Brown to You.” Holiday found solace in music by listening to the two artists ‘Bessie Smith’ and ‘Louis Armstrong’ which gave her inspiration.

Jazz Jazz music was originated by Black Africans. African music combined with the music of the white European settlers to produce new styles of music including blues and ragtime. At the age of 18, Holiday was discovered by producer John Hammond while she was performing in a Harlem jazz club. Hammond was instrumental in getting Holiday recording work with an up-and-coming clarinettist and bandleader Benny Goodman. 1901 Louis Armstrong is born: The Jazz Original Holiday remained a major star in the jazz world—and even in popular music as well. She appeared with her idol Louis Armstrong in the 1947 film New Orleans, albeit playing the role of a maid. Known for her distinctive phrasing and expressive, sometimes melancholy voice, Holiday went on to record with jazz pianist Teddy Wilson and others in 1935. She made several singles, including "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and "Miss Brown to You."

Script- Billie Holiday Narrator: Holiday found solace in music, singing along to the records of Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. Armstrong was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz. As for Smith who was an American blues singer that was the most famous female singers in the 1920’s and 30’s. These artists influenced Holiday, as they were both award-winning jazz musicians. Her father Clarence Holiday who was a successful jazz musician may have also been one of her influences even though he weren’t around as she grew up. Narrator: This is a documentary about Billie Holiday and her growing up to becoming what she successfully became, a jazz musician. Born in April the 7th, 1915, Billie Holiday spent most of her childhood in Baltimore, Maryland with her mother Sadie. Her mother had her when she was only a teenager. Clarence Holiday, her father, was a successful jazz musician. Narrator: Billie Holiday had a mixture of ups and downs in the early life that led her to grow up to be a successful jazz singer. However, even with a successful budding career, Billie Holiday still struggled to maintain her status as a ground-breaking jazz singer because of her addiction to drugs. It’s a sad, hard story, of course, later involving drugs, abusive husbands. Narrator: However, Her boyfriend at the time was trumpeter Joe Guy, and with him she started using heroin. After the death of her mother in October 1945, Holiday began drinking more heavily and escalated her drug use to ease her grief. She died in July 17, 1959. More than 3,000 people turned out to say good-bye to Lady Day at her funeral held in St. Paul the Apostle Roman Catholic Church on July 21, 1959. Narrator: Eleanora Fagan (birth name) started her well-known saga. She grew up in Baltimore without her dad and survived an attempted rape at 11, She was running errands in a brothel by 12, living without her mom, then re-joined her mother in Harlem at 13, where they were soon both turning tricks, arrested, and jailed. Afterwards, Holiday started to get her life on track by performing in jazz clubs. Then at the age of 18, John Hammond had noticed her talent in a Harlem jazz club. This led to Billie duetting with other artists and successfully releasing two new singles "Your Mother's Son-In-Law" and the 1934 top ten hit "Riffin' the Scotch." Despite her personal problems, Holiday remained a major star in the jazz world—and even in popular music as well. She appeared with her idol Louis Armstrong in the 1947 film New Orleans, albeit playing the role of a maid.

Treatment Synopsis: My documentary is going to be based on the theme ‘growing up.’ Billie Holidays’ early life consisted with a lot of decision making and staying strong. The documentary will start off with a voice-over talking about her mother and father and how she grew up. It will also mention her educational life and how she truanted, which then led to court. At the age of 12, her neighbour raped her, which may have given her social problems. However, it didn’t, instead Holiday and her mother became prostitutes at Harlem. This information and more about her growing up will be included in the documentary. Images, short video clips and a voice-over will help complete this project. This will give the documentary a flow by talking about her life story. Rationale: I want to be able to show the audience Billie Holidays’ upbringing. She has an interesting past which built up to make her succeed in her talent. This will explain to the audience Billie’s routes in music and what she went through. There have been other documentaries shown on YouTube and television about her ‘reputations’ and ‘story.’ However, I want to talk about her upbringing and how she succeeded in Jazz music. It will explain her good and bad paths in life such as how she performed her music and released singles then to when she started taking drugs and losing that talent she was able to express. Feasibility: The documentary is visually going to contain a range of Billie Holidays photograph and clips, where I will include effects to give it a smooth look. A voice-over will be played in the background as well as soft music so I can talk about Holiday and get the audience to have more of an understanding about her career. I am going to change my tone of voice to make sure my voice is suitable for the documentary so it has a sense of profession. I am going to use Adobe Premiere to edit the video so I can include footage and my voice over.