Howard Keel
b. Harold C. Leek, 13 April 1917, Gillespie, Illinois, USA. A popular singer in films and on the musical stage, with a rich, powerful baritone voice and commanding presence. After starting his career as a singing waiter in Los Angeles, Keel became an 'in-house entertainer' for the huge Douglas aircraft manufacturing company. In 1945, he appeared in Carousel on the West Coast and then travelled to the UK to appear in the London production of Oklahoma!. At this time he was known as Harold Keel, having reversed the spelling of his last name. Now, he changed his first name and after making a non-singing appearance in the film The Small Voice (1948), he returned to the USA where he landed the role of Frank Butler in the film Annie Get Your Gun (1950). He continued to make films, mostly musicals, including Show Boat (1951), Kiss Me Kate and Calamity Jane (both 1953), Rose Marie and Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (both 1954) and Kismet (1955). By the '60s he was touring the US in revivals of popular shows, and appearing in non-musical low-budget western movies. In 1981 his acting career received a boost when he started to appear in the long-running television soap opera, 'Dallas'. This revived interest in his singing, particularly in the UK, and in 1984 he recorded his first solo album. In 1993, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, he announced his Farewell Tour of the UK.