I wanna be loved by you

Helen Kane, Betty Boop and more

The original show poster for “That’s My Weakness Now,” Helen’s 1928 play where she reportedly first sang “boop-boop-a-doop” (image via Wikimedia Commons)

In 1919, when she was just 15 years old, Helen Kane made her New York stage debut — with none other than the Marx Brothers. Just two years later, she was traveling around the country with a vaudeville troupe, performing at venues as lauded as The New York Palace. Audiences reveled in her flapper haircut, Clara Bow look and spot-on comedic timing; but it wasn’t until Helen hit Broadway that she found her own unique place in show biz. 

Scatting opened up a whole new world for Helen. She was already a strong singer, well-versed in jazz classics and old standards. But once she incorporated scat into her onstage performances, audiences delighted in her baby-voiced improvisations. She riffed on song lyrics to play with “poop poop doo” (yes, really) and, most iconically, “boop boop a doop.”