CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Lillian Cornell

American actress (1916-2015)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ25999311
Source-derived summary

Lillian Cornell (born Lillian Michuda; June 2, 1916 - May 25, 2015) was an American singer on old-time radio and an actress in films in the early 1940s.

Early years

Cornell was born Lillian Michuda June 2, 1916, in Chicago. Her name was changed to Lillian Cornell by studio executives when she began to act in films.

Radio

In 1936, Cornell (billed as Lillian Michuda) had her own radio program on WCFL in her hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Three years later, she had moved to NBC, where she had the self-titled Lillian Cornell program.

She also performed on Pleasure Parade, Club Matinee, Roy Shield Revue, Jamboree and Sunday Dinner at Aunt Fanny's.

Personal appearances

In 1944, Cornell was the featured singer at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. A review published in the Chicago Tribune on November 26, 1944, described Cornell as "a dark haired beauty with a clear, impressive voice and an admirably gracious, easy manner."

Film

Cornell's venture into the film industry was initiated via radio. Radio Varieties magazine reported that because radio commitments kept Cornell in Chicago, "her managers arranged a cocktail party in the movie mecca, at which an audition of Lillian's voice was heard by special wire from the Windy City." She signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and soon appeared in Buck Benny Rides Again.

Television

In 1946, Cornell was part of the cast of The Window Shade Revue, a 45-minute musical broadcast on WNBT in New York City.

Editorial summary

“Lillian Cornell” enters the record as american actress (1916-2015). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Lillian, Cornell and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1916, 2015, 1936, 1944—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1916-06-02. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Lillian, Cornell and American.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Lillian Cornell” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Lillian, Cornell and American provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q25999311. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1916, 2015, 1936 and 1944.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Lillian Cornell”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Lillian Cornell primary sources, Lillian Cornell archive and Lillian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Lillian Cornell”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Lillian Cornell” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.