Howard Keel

Howard Keel burst onto the scene in the 1950s as a lively and robust star in a string of MGM musical productions. His debut solo album, however, did not arrive until 1984. That recording opportunity grew directly out of his extended run on the prime-time series Dallas, where he appeared opposite Barbara Bel Geddes as the silver-haired Clayton Farlow, husband to matriarch Miss Ellie. The high-profile role he assumed in 1981 restored his visibility after years away from the spotlight, prompting both the solo album and a slate of concert dates.

Born Harry Clifford Leek in Illinois, the baritone spent his early years in California. His storied career began modestly there as a singing waiter, followed by a wartime stint at the Douglas Aircraft Corporation plant, where he performed for fellow employees during World War II. Success in talent contests soon brought him into contact with Rodgers and Hammerstein. He toured as Billy Bigelow in Carousel and later replaced Alfred Drake as Curley in the Broadway production of Oklahoma before the show reached London. Time spent in England opened the door to film, and he made his screen debut in 1949’s The Small Voice. Returning to Hollywood, he settled into a long string of lavish musicals that included Annie Get Your Gun, Showboat, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Rose Marie, and Kiss Me Kate.

Keel married three times. His first marriage, to Rosemary Cooper, ran from 1943 until the couple divorced in 1948. He wed Helen Anderson in 1949; the union produced three children and ended in divorce in 1970. That same year he married Judy Magamoll, with whom he had one child. Between 1958 and 1959 he served as president of the Screen Actors Guild. His daughter Kaija remained married to Edward James Olmos for more than two decades.