Ethel Merman was hot! She looked photogenic in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World(1963). She played herself on episodes of That Girl(1966-1970).

This brief performance exemplifies her self-awareness.

She is hilarious in MAD MAD WORLD . when I saw MAD and THERES NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS as a kid in the 70's I realized she must be a really big star even though I didn't know anything else about her or any of her other credits because she is such a vivid personality.

Merman was under-rated as a comic actress - her brief turn in AIRPLANE! was indeed a gem, as was her performance in IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD, in which she more than held her own with many other comic greats.
"I don't use a pen: I write with a goose quill dipped in venom!"
W. Lydecker