Name: William Warfield
Date of Birth: 22 January 1920 He became almost as identified with the song "Ol' Man River" as Paul Robeson had a generation earlier, and starred with Leontyne Price and Cab Calloway in a European tour of Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess". This "Porgy and Bess" played to sold-out houses all over Europe. It was performed to huge acclaim in Russia during the early days of the Cold War, and was the first American opera production to ever play Milan's La Scala Opera House. It wound up its tour on Broadway in 1953 (without Warfield, who... was forced to drop out immediately prior because of earlier recording commitments). In contrast to the original 1935 production of the opera, it received rave reviews from the New York critics. It ran eight months on Broadway, one month less than the 1942 revival, but nevertheless rang up more performances - 305 - than any other production of "Porgy and Bess" to ever play in New York, at least until 2006. As it happened, it played at the Ziegfeld, the theatre at which the original 1927 production of "Show Boat" and its 1946 revival both played. He had made his recital debut in Town Hall,New York City, when Roger Edens arranged for him to come to Hollywood to make his screen debut as Joe in "Show Boat" Professor of Voice at Northwestern University. He and Miss Price were legally separated in 1958, but did not receive a divorce decree until 1972. In 1955, he was chosen by the Philadelphia Orchestra as their official soloist on the orchestra's first tour of Europe. During the 1980s was chair of vocal music for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's School of Music. African-American bass-baritone singer-actor in concert recitals, operas, films, symphonies with speaking roles, and jazz programs such as NPR's "Riverwalk". Was a professor of voice at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Starred in two different productions of "The Green Pastures" on television, both for the "Hallmark Hall of Fame" series. He made six singing tours for the U.S. Department of State. Immediately prior to his recording the Mozart Requiem with Bruno Walter, the Westminster Choir, and three other soloists, Warfield and all of the artists who made the recording participated in a live performance of the work, at Carnegie Hall. Read more William Warfield movies (actor)
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