Ethel Merman
with Tyrone Power in ALEXANDER'S RAGTIME BAND
............Girl Crazy opened on October 14, 1930 at the Alvin Theatre, where it ran for 272 performances.[11] The New York Times noted Merman sang "with dash, authority, good voice and just the right knowing style," while The New Yorker called her "imitative of no one."[12] Merman was fairly blasé about her notices, prompting George Gershwin to ask her mother, "Have you ever seen a person so unconcerned as Ethel?", and he made her promise never to work with a singing teacher. (Wikipedia)
And much more of Merman on UTube.
