‘CHIQUITA’ LEWIS: RETURN OF AN EX-TOP BANANA

Her career spans almost half a century, with a list of credits that runs off the page.

She began singing on radio at age 17, later headlined at the Stork Club and Copacabana in the Big Apple and was signed by Benny Goodman after an impressive audition of “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing.”

She was a guest performer on most of the top TV variety shows of the ‘50s, made hit recordings (“Autumn Leaves,” “I Wish You Love,” “A Tree in the Meadow”) and was billed by MGM as the studio’s “threat to Lana Turner.”

She had roles in a string of MGM musicals, appeared in numerous TV dramas and toured Korea with the late Danny Kaye.

Indeed, as an entertainer, Monica Lewis has circled the bases.

But it was a voice-over commercial--a simple, behind-the-camera jingle--that gave her the most mileage, if not fame.

Chiquita Banana, a colorful cartoon character that “danced” to a bouncy Latin beat, became an instant commercial success and lasted for a decade on radio, TV and even in theaters. Yet, the singer--Lewis--was not identified.

The work clearly was not her most challenging by a long shot, but as Lewis acknowledged on her 65th birthday last week (Cinco de Mayo), “it paid the rent for a long time.”

Now, exactly 30 years after her farewell nightclub performance at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, Lewis is launching a comeback at the Hollywood Roosevelt’s Cinegrill (Wednesday through Sunday). But this time, she is not motivated by monetary gains.

Comfortably ensconced for the past 23 years on a 2 1/2-acre Beverly Hills estate she shares with her husband of 31 years--veteran film and TV producer Jennings Lang--the entertainer said she was persuaded to resume her singing career by her family.

Lang, 71, suffered a massive stroke three years ago while exercising. Although mentally alert and surprisingly active, he is confined to a wheel chair, his right arm paralyzed, his speech seriously impaired. Yet, he swims, attends Music Center functions and sports events, goes to restaurants and has a positive outlook, his wife said.

“I was totally absorbed to getting him well, and by the second year we started seeing results.”

Before her husband’s stroke, Lewis accepted TV roles from time to time, but afterward found almost no time for acting. Her only job was a small part in the recently completed movie “The Couch Trip,” starring Dan Aykroyd and Walter Matthau.

Meanwhile, Lewis’ life style changed drastically. Accustomed to a “very exciting and fulfilling life,” she became Lang’s around-the-clock “nurse” and companion, tending to his every need.

Eventually, the strain on her became apparent, particularly to her son Rocky, a 29-year-old TV producer and director.

“He told me I should practice my singing,” Lewis continued. “He said you should do something besides run this hospital camp.

“So, about a year ago, I started vocalizing, tuning up the pipes, and it made everybody happy. . . . Everybody seemed to rally, to come alive. It certainly was good for me. It relaxed me; I was under terrible tension.

“The first couple of months I didn’t like the way I sounded. It didn’t sound good to me,” particularly the high notes, she said. “I was rusty, my age (was a factor), an inability to concentrate. . . .”

Nonetheless, at the urging of Rocky and two older stepsons, Bob and Mike, and a supportive husband as well, the singer finally gave herself a “test” earlier this year at Nucleus Nuance and Vine St. Bar & Grill.

As she prepared for her act, it wasn’t her appearance (“I swim a lot and I’ve danced all my life,” she explained. “I’m a workhorse. If it’s mowing a lawn or singing a song, I go at it--all the way”)--or her voice--that worried her, but she was concerned about forgetting lyrics.

“It was never a problem, but my concentration . . . I could remember what pills Jennings had to take, but I couldn’t remember words to songs.”

However, she said she suffered no memory lapses during her warm-up shows.

“The worst that can happen,” she added with a shrug, “is you make the words up. But I hate it.”

Digressing a bit, she talked about her closing number, “Make Someone Happy,” which she believes should be the primary goal of every performer.

“I feel if I can make people have a good time for half an hour, 45 minutes or whatever, then that’s the thing you do best as an entertainer.”