"I Wanna Be Loved by You" is a song written by Herbert Stothart and Harry Ruby, with lyrics by Bert Kalmar, for the 1928 musical "Good Boy".
It was chosen as one of the Songs of the Century in a survey made by the RIAA in which 200 people responded (out of 1300 asked). One of Marilyn Monroe's most famous musical performances is her singing it in Billy Wilder's classic farce Some Like It Hot.
The song was first performed in 1928 by Helen Kane, who became known as the 'Boop-Boop-a-Doop Girl' because of her baby-talk, scat-singing tag line to that song. This version was recorded right when Kane's popularity started to reach its peak, and became her signature song.
Two years later, a cartoon character named Betty Boop was modeled after Kane. Betty Boop performs this number in the 1980s animated film The Romance of Betty Boop.
In 1950, the song was a highlight of the Kalmer-Ruby biopic Three Little Words (1950), performed by Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter as Helen Kane and vaudeville performer Dan Healy. Helen Kane dubbed the vocal for Reynolds’ voice.
The song has also been recorded by Vaughn De Leath, Annette Hanshaw, Jack Lemmon, Frank Sinatra, Miss Miller and The Chipettes, Rhonda Towns, Rose Murphy, Tina Louise, Verka Serduchka, Patricia Kaas, Sinéad O'Connor, Jinx Titanic, Shiina Ringo, Paul Manchin, Claire Johnston, Lorraine Allan (formerly Lorraine Gray) Eve's Plum and many more.
Actress Rue McClanahan performed a humorous rendition of the song while portraying Blanche Devereaux in the popular sitcom The Golden Girls. Actor & Actress Robert Reed & Florence Henderson were singing "I Wanna Be Loved By You" in a 1973 episode "Never Too Young" of The Brady Bunch."
