Howard Keel, born Harold Clifford Keel (April 13, 1919 – November 7, 2004) … Read Full Bio ↴Howard Keel, born Harold Clifford Keel (April 13, 1919 – November 7, 2004) was an American actor who starred in many of the classic film musicals of the 1950s.
Born in Gillespie, Illinois, to Navyman-turned-coalminer Homer Keel and his wife, Grace Osterkamp Keel, young Harry spent his childhood in poverty. After his father's death in 1930, he and his mother moved to California, where he graduated from Fallbrook High School at the age of 17 and took various odd-jobs until finally settling at Douglas Aircraft Company, where he became a traveling representative.
At the age of twenty, he was overheard singing by his landlady, Mom Rider, and was encouraged to take vocal lessons. One of his musical heroes was the great baritone Lawrence Tibbett and Howard would later say that finding out that his own voice was a basso cantante was one of the greatest disappointments of his life. Nevertheless, his first public performance came in the summer of 1941 when he played the role of Samuel the Prophet in Handel's oratorio Saul and David (singing a duet with bass-baritone George London).
Just a couple years after this, in 1943, Harold met and married his first wife, actress Rosemary Cooper. In 1945 Harold briefly understudied for John Raitt in the Broadway hit Carousel, before being assigned to Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was during this time, he accomplished a feat that has never been duplicated. He performed the leads in both shows on the same day.
In 1947 Oklahoma! became the first American musical, post-war, to travel to London, England, and Harold went with it. Opening night , 30th April, at the Drury Lane Theatre, the capacity audience (which included the Queen) demanded fourteen encores. Harold Keel was hailed as the next great star and was the toast of the West End.
During the London run, the marriage of Harold and Rosemary ended in divorce, and Harold fell in love with a young member of the show's chorus, dancer Helen Anderson. They married in January 1949 and, a year later, Harold - now called Howard - became a father for the first time to daughter Kaija.
While living in London, Keel made his film debut as Howard Keel at the British Lion studio in Elstree, in The Small Voice (1948), released in the US as Hideout, playing an escaped convict, holding up a playwright and his wife in their English country cottage.
Additional Broadway credits include Saratoga, No Strings, and Ambasador. He appeared at The Muny in St. Louis, MO as General Waverly in White Christmas (2000), Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady (1996); Emile de Becque in South Pacific (1992), and Adam in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1978).
From London's West End, Howard ended up at MGM making his film musical debut as Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun.
Howard's MGM career was to be a frustrating business. MGM never seemed to know quite what to do with him and, outside of plum roles in the films Show Boat, Kiss Me, Kate and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, he was forced into a stream of worthless musicals and B-films. On loan-out at Warner Bros., he played Wild Bill Hickok in Calamity Jane, a highly popular, Oscar-winning musical filmed in 1953, starring Doris Day in one of her most famous screen roles. This was Warner's answer to Annie Get Your Gun, and the film that produced the smash hit number, "Secret Love".
There were two more children born to Howard and Helen, daughter Kirstine in 1952 and son Gunnar in 1955. Soon after, Howard was released from his contract and returned to his first love, the stage.
Sadly, as America's taste in entertainment changed, finding jobs became harder and harder for Howard. The 1960s held little chance for career advancement with a round of nightclub work, b-Westerns and summer stock. Under the strain, Howard began to drink heavily, and his marriage to Helen crumbled. They divorced in 1970.
But 1970 proved to be fortuitous for Howard after all. He was set up on a blind date with airline stewardess Judy Magamoll who was twenty-five years his junior and had never even heard of him. They were married in December 1970 and his drinking problem soon ceased.
By 1980 he had had enough of struggling to find work and he moved his family to Oklahoma, intending to join an oil company. They had barely settled there when Howard was called back to California to appear with Jane Powell on an episode of The Love Boat. While he was there, he was told that the producers of the smash hit television series Dallas wanted to talk to him. After several cameo appearances, Howard joined the show permanently as the dignified, if hot tempered, oil baron Clayton Farlow and his career reached heights it had never seen before.
With his renewed fame, Howard began his first solo recording career at age sixty-four, as well as a wildly successful concert career in the UK. He released an album in 1984 called "With Love", that sold poorly, thus indicating that though the American public were happy to see him as a supporting actor on hit TV show, they were not prepared for a full resumption of his previous stardom.
Even after Dallas he continued to sing, and kept his voice in remarkable shape. In 1994, he and Judy moved to Palm Desert, CA. The Keels were always active in charity events, helping their community and were well loved amongst the residents. In particular, Howard and Judy attended the annual Howard Keel Golf Classic at Mere Golf Club in Cheshire, England, which raised money for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). He attended for many years, up until the year of his death.
Howard died at his home in Palm Desert on November 7, 2004, six weeks after being diagnosed with colon cancer. He is survived by Judy, his wife of thirty-four years, his four children, ten grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. He was cremated and his ashes scattered at various favorite places including Mere Golf Club, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, and in Tuscany, Italy.
Born in Gillespie, Illinois, to Navyman-turned-coalminer Homer Keel and his wife, Grace Osterkamp Keel, young Harry spent his childhood in poverty. After his father's death in 1930, he and his mother moved to California, where he graduated from Fallbrook High School at the age of 17 and took various odd-jobs until finally settling at Douglas Aircraft Company, where he became a traveling representative.
At the age of twenty, he was overheard singing by his landlady, Mom Rider, and was encouraged to take vocal lessons. One of his musical heroes was the great baritone Lawrence Tibbett and Howard would later say that finding out that his own voice was a basso cantante was one of the greatest disappointments of his life. Nevertheless, his first public performance came in the summer of 1941 when he played the role of Samuel the Prophet in Handel's oratorio Saul and David (singing a duet with bass-baritone George London).
Just a couple years after this, in 1943, Harold met and married his first wife, actress Rosemary Cooper. In 1945 Harold briefly understudied for John Raitt in the Broadway hit Carousel, before being assigned to Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was during this time, he accomplished a feat that has never been duplicated. He performed the leads in both shows on the same day.
In 1947 Oklahoma! became the first American musical, post-war, to travel to London, England, and Harold went with it. Opening night , 30th April, at the Drury Lane Theatre, the capacity audience (which included the Queen) demanded fourteen encores. Harold Keel was hailed as the next great star and was the toast of the West End.
During the London run, the marriage of Harold and Rosemary ended in divorce, and Harold fell in love with a young member of the show's chorus, dancer Helen Anderson. They married in January 1949 and, a year later, Harold - now called Howard - became a father for the first time to daughter Kaija.
While living in London, Keel made his film debut as Howard Keel at the British Lion studio in Elstree, in The Small Voice (1948), released in the US as Hideout, playing an escaped convict, holding up a playwright and his wife in their English country cottage.
Additional Broadway credits include Saratoga, No Strings, and Ambasador. He appeared at The Muny in St. Louis, MO as General Waverly in White Christmas (2000), Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady (1996); Emile de Becque in South Pacific (1992), and Adam in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1978).
From London's West End, Howard ended up at MGM making his film musical debut as Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun.
Howard's MGM career was to be a frustrating business. MGM never seemed to know quite what to do with him and, outside of plum roles in the films Show Boat, Kiss Me, Kate and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, he was forced into a stream of worthless musicals and B-films. On loan-out at Warner Bros., he played Wild Bill Hickok in Calamity Jane, a highly popular, Oscar-winning musical filmed in 1953, starring Doris Day in one of her most famous screen roles. This was Warner's answer to Annie Get Your Gun, and the film that produced the smash hit number, "Secret Love".
There were two more children born to Howard and Helen, daughter Kirstine in 1952 and son Gunnar in 1955. Soon after, Howard was released from his contract and returned to his first love, the stage.
Sadly, as America's taste in entertainment changed, finding jobs became harder and harder for Howard. The 1960s held little chance for career advancement with a round of nightclub work, b-Westerns and summer stock. Under the strain, Howard began to drink heavily, and his marriage to Helen crumbled. They divorced in 1970.
But 1970 proved to be fortuitous for Howard after all. He was set up on a blind date with airline stewardess Judy Magamoll who was twenty-five years his junior and had never even heard of him. They were married in December 1970 and his drinking problem soon ceased.
By 1980 he had had enough of struggling to find work and he moved his family to Oklahoma, intending to join an oil company. They had barely settled there when Howard was called back to California to appear with Jane Powell on an episode of The Love Boat. While he was there, he was told that the producers of the smash hit television series Dallas wanted to talk to him. After several cameo appearances, Howard joined the show permanently as the dignified, if hot tempered, oil baron Clayton Farlow and his career reached heights it had never seen before.
With his renewed fame, Howard began his first solo recording career at age sixty-four, as well as a wildly successful concert career in the UK. He released an album in 1984 called "With Love", that sold poorly, thus indicating that though the American public were happy to see him as a supporting actor on hit TV show, they were not prepared for a full resumption of his previous stardom.
Even after Dallas he continued to sing, and kept his voice in remarkable shape. In 1994, he and Judy moved to Palm Desert, CA. The Keels were always active in charity events, helping their community and were well loved amongst the residents. In particular, Howard and Judy attended the annual Howard Keel Golf Classic at Mere Golf Club in Cheshire, England, which raised money for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). He attended for many years, up until the year of his death.
Howard died at his home in Palm Desert on November 7, 2004, six weeks after being diagnosed with colon cancer. He is survived by Judy, his wife of thirty-four years, his four children, ten grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. He was cremated and his ashes scattered at various favorite places including Mere Golf Club, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, and in Tuscany, Italy.
The Surrey With A Fringe On Top
Howard Keel Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by Howard Keel:
'Tis Harry I'm Planning To Marry When you turn to the subject of Harry That's a horse…
Always On My Mind Maybe I didn't love you Quite as often as I could…
And I Love You So I'm walking on the air, dear For life is fair, dear To…
And There You Are Once a wand'ring ne'er do well Just a vagrant roving fellow …
Aniie Get Your Gun The costumes, the scenery, the makeup, the props The audien…
Annie Get Your Gun The girl that I marry will have to be As soft…
Annie Get Your Gun Finale_End Theme The costumes, the scenery, the makeup, the props The audien…
Annie get your gun medley The girl that I marry will have to be As soft…
Annie Get Your Gun: There's No Business Like Show Business The costumes, the scenery, the makeup, the props The audien…
Are You Sincere Once a wand'ring ne'er do well Just a vagrant roving fellow …
As I Love You I'm walking on the air, dear For life is fair, dear To…
Bless Yore Beautiful Hide Bless yore beautiful hide Wherever you may be We ain't met y…
Both Sides Now Rows and flows of angel hair And ice cream castles in…
Higher Than A Hawk My heart is higher than a hawk My love is deeper…
I Can Do Without You In the summer, you're the winter In the finger, you're the…
I Just Called To Say I Love You No New Year's Day to celebrate No chocolate covered candy he…
I Love Paris I'm walking on the air, dear For life is fair, dear To…
I've Never Been To Me Hey lady, you, lady, cursin' at your life You're a disconten…
Love the World Away Ev'ry now and then, when the world steps in, stealin' all ou…
Lovely To Look At Clothes must play a part To light an eye, to…
Make Believe Only make believe I love you Only make believe that you…
No Business Like Show Business There's no business like show business Like no business I kn…
O What A Beautiful Mornin There's a bright golden haze on the meadow, There's a brigh…
O What A Beautiful Morning There's a bright golden haze on the meadow, There's a bright…
Oh What A Beautiful Mornin There's a bright golden haze on the meadow There's a bright…
Oklahoma There's a bright golden haze on the meadow There's a bright…
Only Make Believe Only make believe I love you Only make believe that you…
Pagan Love Song Come with me where moonbeams light Tahitian skies And the st…
Send in the Clowns Isn't it rich, aren't we a pair Me here at last…
Show Boat Why Do I Love You I'm walking on the air, dear For life is fair, dear To…
Showboat: Make Believe Only make believe I love you Only make believe that you…
Showboat: Why Do I Love You I'm walking on the air, dear For life is fair, dear To…
Sobbin' Women Tell ya ′bout them sobbin' women Who lived in the Roman…
Sobbin’ Women I sat down feeling desolated Bowed my head and crossed my…
Softly as I Leave You Softly I will leave you softly For my heart would…
Some Enchanted Evening Some enchanted evening, you may see a stranger, You may see…
The Girl The girl that I marry will have to be As soft…
The Touch of Your Hand When you shall see flowers that lie on the plain Lying…
There There's no business like show business Like no business I kn…
They Say It They say that falling love is wonderful It's wonderful, so …
They Say It's Wonderful They say that falling love is wonderful It's wonderful, so t…
To all the girls i The girl that I marry will have to be As soft…
Where Is The Life That Late I Led When at first aware of masculinity I began to finger feminin…
Where's the Mate for Me Who cares if my boat goes upstream? Or if the gale…
Why Do I Love You I'm walking on the air, dear For life is fair, dear To…
Wonderful Wonderful Day They say that falling love is wonderful It's wonderful, so t…
You Are Love Once a wand'ring ne'er do well Just a vagrant roving fellow …
You or No One I'm walking on the air, dear For life is fair, dear To…
You Were Always On My Mind Maybe I didn't love you Quite as often as I could…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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@heatheralice89
Happy 102nd Birthday Gordon McRae!! It's impossible to feel in a bad mood watching this charming video clip🙏💕🎁🎈🎈🎈🎈🎁🎉🎉🎉🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊
@grandmalovesmebest
My great aunt gave me this album for my birthday present. I was mad that she didnt give me Elvis instead. She was an old maid school teacher and knew a lot more than i did back then. I love this show (saw it on Broadway and saw this version of the film) and now, as an old lady myself, i can still sing every song (badly) and get all the lyrics perfect.😁
Thank you Auntie. RIP.
@lwdfn7479
Saw Shirley Jones play Aunt Ella at the Cape Cod theatre maybe 15 years ago. I’m not one to spend money on live theatre, but I just had to go to see her and was privileged that my daughter (who now lives in OK—who knew?) came with me.
@suzannealcock4681
Gordon McRae was born for this role. He had outstandong control over his singing voice and handsome looks to match.
@ComeraStitches
Yes, he did. I couldn't agree more 😊
@00cocochanel000
Yaaaaasssssssssss I’m 31 and grew up watching these old classics :) I completely agree!!!
@famousdave7219
Dude's Baritone is insane
@archerpiperii2690
@@famousdave7219 The chiseled jaw doesn't hurt either.
@royhirons2109
Am I right on saying Gordon contracted facial cancer later in his ife..I dearly hope I am wrong ?
@robmaxwell189
The look of bliss on Shirley's face as he is describing the horses is amazing. Such simple pleasures.