Howard Keel, 6'4" of cocky confidence
Apr 13, 2019 9:37:22 GMT
Doghouse6, mattgarth, and 5 more like this
Post by teleadm on Apr 13, 2019 9:37:22 GMT
Tall timber of a man, Howard Keel, was a force in MGM musicals in the early 1950s, with a cocky confidence aura persona and a rich baritone voice he swooned and swaggered his way to the top for a few years. (6'4" is around 193 cm in the metric system)
Little, if he ever was little, Harry Clifford Keel was born in 1919 in Gillespie, Illinois.
It was falsely stated, by the MGM publicity department of the 1950s, that Keel's birth name was Harold Leek.
He and his older brothers spent their childhood in poverty.
One of his teachers, Miss Rosa Burke, noticed one day that Harry had no lunch. From that day forward, Miss Burke would pack two lunches, one for herself and one for Harry. When he became famous and would perform near Gillespie, Burke always received tickets to attend his performances. After his father's death in 1930, Keel and his mother moved to California, where he graduated from Fallbrook High School at age 17. He worked various odd jobs until settling at Douglas Aircraft Company as a traveling representative.
At age 20, Keel was overheard singing by his landlady, and was encouraged to take vocal lessons. One of his music heroes was the great baritone Lawrence Tibbett. Keel later remarked that learning that his own voice was a basso cantante was one of the greatest disappointments of his life. Nevertheless, his first public performance occurred in the summer of 1941, when he played the role of Samuel the Prophet in Handel's oratorio Saul.
In 1945, he briefly understudied for John Raitt in the Broadway hit Carousel before being assigned to Oklahoma!, both written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. While performing in Oklahoma, Keel accomplished a feat that has never been duplicated on Broadway; he once performed the leads in both shows on the same day.
In 1947, Oklahoma! became the first American postwar musical to travel to London, England, and Keel joined the production. On April 30, 1947, at the Drury Lane Theatre, the capacity audience (which included the future Queen Elizabeth II) demanded fourteen encores. Keel was hailed as the next great star, becoming the toast of London's West End.
It was also in England that he made his movie debut, The Small Voice aka The Hideout 1948.
The Small Voice aka The Hideout 1948, Keel with a gun, marked his movie debut. A noirish British thriller.
After his success in London, MGM signed him, and he made his American movie debut in Annie Get Your Gun 1950, with Betty Hutton as Annie.
Pagan Love Song 1950, with Esther Williams.
Three Guys Named Mike 1951, with Van Johnson, Barry Sullivan and Jane Wyman. Being under contract at a big studio also meant that one had to act in almost anything that popped up.
Show Boat 1951, with Kathryn Grayson, making eternal looser Gaylord Revenal nearly likable.
Texas Carnival 1951, once again with Esther Williams
Callaway Went Thataway 1951, with Fred MacMurray and Dorothy McGuire.
A spoof of the craze generated by the television program Hopalong Cassidy.
Lovely to Look At 1952 publicity pic, a musical film adaptation of the Broadway musical Roberta, with Marge and Gower Champion, Red Skelton, Ann Miller and Kathryn Grayson.
Desperate Search 1952, with Jane Greer. A drama revolving around two lost children in the Canadian north.
Fast Company 1953, with Polly Bergen
Ride Vaquero 1953, with Ava Gardner.
Calamity Jane 1953, a loan-out to star with Doris Day at Warner Bros.
Kiss Me Kate 1953, with Kathryn Grayson. Also made in 3-D
Rose Marie 1954, with Ann Blyth
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 1954, with Jane Powell.
After the success of this movie, the old fashioned musicals written directly for the movies became a dying art, television variety shows had begun to take over.
Jupiter's Darling 1955, with Esther Williams.
The sign of changing times and tastes, this movie lost money and was panned by the critics.
(Personally I think it's an entertaining spoof of musicals and Biblical epics)
Kismet 1955
Keel returned to the theatre and made occasional movies, becoming a popular act in musicals and in nighclubs, and summer stock and touring companies.
Floods of Fear 1958, with Anne Haywood, a British thriller.
The Big Fisherman 1959, a Biblical epic, as Simon Peter.
Armored Command 1961, a low budget war movie that co-starred a young man named Burt.
The Day of the Triffids 1962, a nearly forgotten movie that got a second life when it fell into public domain.
The first of three movies Howard Keel did for producer A.C. Lyles, with veteran casts, was Waco 1966, with Jane Russell.
Red Tomahawk 1967, the second of the Lyles produced movies.
The War Wagon 1967, with John Wayne and Robert Walker Jr. Keel played a native American, discussable today but okay in 1967.
Arizona Bushwakers 1968, the third and last for producer Lyles. This was Howard Keel's last role as a leading man in a feature movie.
Guest star on Here's Lucy episode Lucy's Safari 1969.
The sudden return to the public, as Clinton Farlow on Dallas between 1981 and 1991, in 265 episodes (not always appearing, but 265 times in the credits).
Guest star on Angela Lansbury's Murder, She Wrote episode A Killing in Vegas 1991
Keel also guest starred on The Love Boat and Walker Texas Ranger among others.
Howard Keel left us in 2004 at the age of 85, his memoirs was published a year later (seen above).
Thanks for watching!
All kinds of oppinions and thoughts are as always very very welcome!
Little, if he ever was little, Harry Clifford Keel was born in 1919 in Gillespie, Illinois.
It was falsely stated, by the MGM publicity department of the 1950s, that Keel's birth name was Harold Leek.
He and his older brothers spent their childhood in poverty.
One of his teachers, Miss Rosa Burke, noticed one day that Harry had no lunch. From that day forward, Miss Burke would pack two lunches, one for herself and one for Harry. When he became famous and would perform near Gillespie, Burke always received tickets to attend his performances. After his father's death in 1930, Keel and his mother moved to California, where he graduated from Fallbrook High School at age 17. He worked various odd jobs until settling at Douglas Aircraft Company as a traveling representative.
At age 20, Keel was overheard singing by his landlady, and was encouraged to take vocal lessons. One of his music heroes was the great baritone Lawrence Tibbett. Keel later remarked that learning that his own voice was a basso cantante was one of the greatest disappointments of his life. Nevertheless, his first public performance occurred in the summer of 1941, when he played the role of Samuel the Prophet in Handel's oratorio Saul.
In 1945, he briefly understudied for John Raitt in the Broadway hit Carousel before being assigned to Oklahoma!, both written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. While performing in Oklahoma, Keel accomplished a feat that has never been duplicated on Broadway; he once performed the leads in both shows on the same day.
In 1947, Oklahoma! became the first American postwar musical to travel to London, England, and Keel joined the production. On April 30, 1947, at the Drury Lane Theatre, the capacity audience (which included the future Queen Elizabeth II) demanded fourteen encores. Keel was hailed as the next great star, becoming the toast of London's West End.
It was also in England that he made his movie debut, The Small Voice aka The Hideout 1948.
The Small Voice aka The Hideout 1948, Keel with a gun, marked his movie debut. A noirish British thriller.
After his success in London, MGM signed him, and he made his American movie debut in Annie Get Your Gun 1950, with Betty Hutton as Annie.
Pagan Love Song 1950, with Esther Williams.
Three Guys Named Mike 1951, with Van Johnson, Barry Sullivan and Jane Wyman. Being under contract at a big studio also meant that one had to act in almost anything that popped up.
Show Boat 1951, with Kathryn Grayson, making eternal looser Gaylord Revenal nearly likable.
Texas Carnival 1951, once again with Esther Williams
Callaway Went Thataway 1951, with Fred MacMurray and Dorothy McGuire.
A spoof of the craze generated by the television program Hopalong Cassidy.
Lovely to Look At 1952 publicity pic, a musical film adaptation of the Broadway musical Roberta, with Marge and Gower Champion, Red Skelton, Ann Miller and Kathryn Grayson.
Desperate Search 1952, with Jane Greer. A drama revolving around two lost children in the Canadian north.
Fast Company 1953, with Polly Bergen
Ride Vaquero 1953, with Ava Gardner.
Calamity Jane 1953, a loan-out to star with Doris Day at Warner Bros.
Kiss Me Kate 1953, with Kathryn Grayson. Also made in 3-D
Rose Marie 1954, with Ann Blyth
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 1954, with Jane Powell.
After the success of this movie, the old fashioned musicals written directly for the movies became a dying art, television variety shows had begun to take over.
Jupiter's Darling 1955, with Esther Williams.
The sign of changing times and tastes, this movie lost money and was panned by the critics.
(Personally I think it's an entertaining spoof of musicals and Biblical epics)
Kismet 1955
Keel returned to the theatre and made occasional movies, becoming a popular act in musicals and in nighclubs, and summer stock and touring companies.
Floods of Fear 1958, with Anne Haywood, a British thriller.
The Big Fisherman 1959, a Biblical epic, as Simon Peter.
Armored Command 1961, a low budget war movie that co-starred a young man named Burt.
The Day of the Triffids 1962, a nearly forgotten movie that got a second life when it fell into public domain.
The first of three movies Howard Keel did for producer A.C. Lyles, with veteran casts, was Waco 1966, with Jane Russell.
Red Tomahawk 1967, the second of the Lyles produced movies.
The War Wagon 1967, with John Wayne and Robert Walker Jr. Keel played a native American, discussable today but okay in 1967.
Arizona Bushwakers 1968, the third and last for producer Lyles. This was Howard Keel's last role as a leading man in a feature movie.
Guest star on Here's Lucy episode Lucy's Safari 1969.
The sudden return to the public, as Clinton Farlow on Dallas between 1981 and 1991, in 265 episodes (not always appearing, but 265 times in the credits).
Guest star on Angela Lansbury's Murder, She Wrote episode A Killing in Vegas 1991
Keel also guest starred on The Love Boat and Walker Texas Ranger among others.
Howard Keel left us in 2004 at the age of 85, his memoirs was published a year later (seen above).
Thanks for watching!
All kinds of oppinions and thoughts are as always very very welcome!
so we saw ALL of his musicals … probably several times ! 
