Blossom Seeley.

Blossom Seeley, a song-and-dance headliner in vaudeville and burlesque, died yesterday at the DeWitt Nursing Home, 211 East 79th Street. She was 82 years old. Miss Seeley, whose last pubic appearance was on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on television in 1966, performed for many years with her husband, the late Benny Fields. Their theme songs were “Melancholy Baby” and “Lullaby of Broadway.” Miss Seeley was born in San Francisco on July 16, 1891. By the time she was 10, she was already performing specialty acts at Sid Grauman's San Francisco between school assignments. Her billing—“The Little Blossom.” She later migrated to the burlesque circuit in Los Angeles, where she was seen by Lew Fields, of Weber and. Fields, who signed her to appear with him in “Henpecks” on Broadway in 1911. Her Frisco Toddler” was a showstopper and helped the production run for two years. Soon after she appeared with Al Jolson in “The Whirl of Society.” During the vaudeville years, Miss Seeley toured with the Keith ‐ Albee ‐ Orpheum circuit and was billed as “The Hottest Girl in Town,” a tribute to her smoldering song renditions of such works as “Somebody Loves Me,” “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans,” “Jealous,” “I Cried, for You” and “Smiles, songs with which her name became associated. In 1927, on the 100th anniversary of vaudeville, Miss Seeley and Mr. Fields were selected to headline the Palace bill of celebrities. Miss Seeley married three times. Her first marriage to Joseph Kane, a theatrical manager, ended in divorce in 1913. Later that year she was married to Richard (Rube) Marquard, the major league baseball pitcher, with whom she appeared on stage, That marriage also ended in divorce. She was married to Benny Fields in 1922, after having teamed with him a year earlier in Chicago. Their life together was the subject of the 1952 Paramount film “Somebody Loves Me,” which starred Betty Hutton and Ralph Meeker. Mr. Fields died in 1959. Miss Seeley leaves a son from her second marriage, Richard Marquard Jr. of Utica, Mich. A Requiem Mass will be celebrated tomorrow at 10 A.M. at St. Malachy's Roman Catholic Church, 239 West 49th Street.