Actually my favorite "urban legends" site, http://www.snopes.com, addresses this issue. Callas DID have a tapeworm, but it apparently grew from her liking for beef tartare, unconnected to her dramatic weight loss in the early fifties. She didn't ingest it *deliberately*.
The less emotional accounts of Callas's vocal problems suggest that her problems stemmed from a combination of technique issues and a poor choice of roles. I shouldn't think that a *careful* weight loss achieved through exercise and a proper healthy diet would affect one's voice adversely.
>From: Sheila Graham <sheila@s...> >From: Sheila Graham <sheila@s...> >Fairly persistent rumour has it that Callas grew a tapeworm to lose >weight - I believe swallowing tapeworm eggs was a not uncommon way of >losing weight in Europe in the 50s, though obviously it did not meet >with medical approval. I don't know whether this rumour was ever proved >one way or the other. > >Hope nobody's reading this while they're eating. >
Elizabeth Finkler GO RAIDERS! http://home.earthlink.net/~mightymezzo/ mightymezzo@h... mightymezzo@h...
"An enemy can partially ruin a man, but it takes a well-meaning and injudicious friend to really finish the job and make it perfect." --Mark Twain, "Pudd'nhead Wilson"
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