Baby Esther

Esther Lee Jones (born c. 1918), known by her stage names "Baby Esther", "Little Esther", and other similar variations, was an American singer and child entertainer of the late 1920s, known for interpreting popular songs with a "mixture of seriousness and childish mischief". After gaining attention in her hometown of Chicago, she became an international celebrity before leaving the public spotlight as a teenager. In 1932, when singer Helen Kane sued Fleischer Studios, claiming that they had appropriated her persona for the voice of the cartoon character Betty Boop, the studios defended themselves by arguing that Kane's style of singing—including an infantile voice and use of the phrase "boop-boop-a-doop"—was not her own invention and was in fact inspired by Jones. The court ruled against Kane.