If the name Helen Morgan means anything to people today, it's likely for three salient things. First, there's her captured-for-posterity portrayal of mixed-race singer Julie LaVerne in the James Whale-directed 1936 film version of the musical Show Boat (a part she originated on Broadway in 1927). Second, there's her reputation as the quintessential "torch singer," a claim to fame evidenced in large part by popular so…
