He was 85

OMG. Thats so sad and on the day of the Dallas reunion. I always thought he was a great asset to the show, and he will be missed. . r.i.p. Howard.:(

Just found this out :(

Howard Keel who played Clayton Farlow on Dallas sadly passed away today
aged 85.

Howard was a star of stage and film finding further fame playing
Clayton on Dallas.

Please take some time to write your message in the Condolence Book at
http://www.ultimatedallas.com/howardkeel

He will be sadly missed by fans across the world. Our thoughts are with
his family.

RIP Howard.:(

Originally posted by mr roper
RIP Howard.:(

:(

:( this is terrible news.


R.I. P. Howard

R.I.P. :crying: peacesign:

I was watching the E! True Hollywood Story on Ryan O'Neal and his family when I caught the news on their ticker. This is strange timing with the reunion airing this evening, and very sad news.

Rest in peace, Mr. Keel. :(

That is sad. He was a very talented guy.

Another thing, off topic... THE REUNION IS NOT AIRING!!! I don't know where it's at. Did the game run late???

Originally posted by jayman75
That is sad. He was a very talented guy.

Another thing, off topic... THE REUNION IS NOT AIRING!!! I don't know where it's at. Did the game run late??? Its running about 40 minutes late.

RIP :(

Rest in peace, Howard.

You know, I've never seen that show, but it has a really catchy themesong.

I never watched Dallas, but most fans of old Hollywood know who he is. Was. I can't believe he's gone - that is so sad. That man had such a voice! He and Kathryn Grayson sang some of the best songs in movie history. And they seemed to be friends up until the very end. I don't know if I ever had a favorite of his - Calamity Jane, Show Boat, Kiss Me Kate, Annie Get Your Gun, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers....

Rest in Peace, Howard. I'll miss you.

Howard Keel, Star of Musicals, Dies at 85

LOS ANGELES - Howard Keel, the broad-shouldered baritone who romanced his way through a series of glittery MGM musicals such as "Kiss Me Kate" and "Annie Get Your Gun" and later revived his career with television's "Dallas," died Sunday. He was 85.

Keel died Sunday morning of colon cancer, according to his son, Gunnar.

Keel starred in Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals in New York and London before being signed to an MGM contract after World War II. The timing was perfect: He became a star with his first MGM film, playing Frank Butler to Betty Hutton's Annie Oakley in "Annie Get Your Gun."

Keel's size and lusty voice made him an ideal leading man for such stars as Esther Williams ("Pagan Love Song," "Texas Carnival," "Jupiter's Darling"), Ann Blyth ("Rose Marie," "Kismet"), Kathryn Grayson ("Show Boat," "Lovely to Look At," "Kiss Me Kate") and Doris Day ("Calamity Jane").

His own favorite film was the exuberant "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."

"It was a fine cast and lots of fun to make," Keel remarked in 1993, "but they did the damn thing on the cheap. The backdrops had holes in them, and it was shot on the worst film stock. ... As it turned out, the miracle worker was George Foley, the cinematographer. He took that junk and made it look like a Grandma Moses painting."

When film studios went into a slump, MGM's musical factory was disbanded. Keel kept busy on the road in such surefire attractions of "Man of La Mancha," "South Pacific," "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."

Keel was 66 and presumably nearing the end of his career when he suddenly became a star in another medium.

From its start in 1978, "Dallas" with its combination of oil, greed, sex and duplicity had become the hottest series in television. Jim Davis, who had played the role of Jock Ewing, died in 1981, and the producers needed another strong presence to stand up to the nefarious J.R. Ewing Jr. (Larry Hagman). They chose Keel.

"The show was enormous," Keel reflected in 1995. "I couldn't believe it. My life changed again. From being out of it, I was suddenly a star, known to more people than ever before. Wherever I went, crowds appeared again, and I started making solo albums for the first time in my career."

As Clayton Farlow, husband of "Miss Ellie" Ewing (Barbara Bel Geddes), Keel remained with "Dallas" until it folded in 1991.

When Keel was born in Gillespie, Ill., his name was Harold Clifford Leek. His father, once a naval captain, became a coal miner and drank to soothe his bitterness. During drunken rages, he beat his children. His mother, a strict Methodist, forbade her two sons from having any entertainment.

"I had a terrible, rotten childhood," Keel commented in 1995. "My father made away with himself when I was 11. I had no guidance, and Mom was six feet tall, bucktoothed and very tough. I was mean and rebellious and had a terrible, bitter temper. I got a job as an auto mechanic, and I would have stayed in that narrow kind of life if I hadn't discovered art. Music changed me completely."

At 20 he was living in Los Angeles and he was befriended by a cultured woman who took him to a Hollywood Bowl concert featuring famed baritone Lawrence Tibbett. Keel was inspired, and he started taking vocal lessons at 25 cents an hour. His first semi-professional opportunity came as a singing waiter at the Paris Inn Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles at $15 a week and two meals a day.

Six foot three and a gawky 140 pounds, Keel was painfully shy. He worked during five years during World War II at Douglas Aircraft, and the experience helped his confidence.

He sang in recitals and opera programs and was summoned to an audition with Oscar Hammerstein II, who was looking for young singers to play Curly in the growing number of touring "Oklahoma!" companies.

Hammerstein approved, and soon under a new name Howard Keel he was singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" in New York eight times a week. He sometimes replaced John Raitt in Rodgers and Hammerstein's other hit, "Carousel" On occasion he would appear in a matinee of "Oklahoma!" and an evening performance of "Carousel." He played "Carousel" for eighteen months in London.

Rodgers and Hammerstein were notorious for underpaying their actors and denying them billing. Keel rankled at being paid $250 a week for the unbilled starring role in a sell-out musical. As soon as his contract expired, he hurried back to Los Angeles.

Desperately in need of handsome, virile actors who could sing, MGM signed Keel to a contract that paid $850 a week.

He made it big in musicals, but also appeared in westerns: Waco," "Red Tomahawk," "The War Wagon" (with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas) and "Arizona Bushwhackers." After leaving MGM, he appeared as St. Peter in the unsuccessful "The Big Fisherman."

Keel was married and then divorced twice: to actress Rosemary Cooper and dancer Helen Anderson, with whom he had three children: Kaija, Kristine, Gunnar. In 1970 he married former airline stewardess Magamoll. They had one daughter, Leslie.

He continued singing in his 1980s, explaining: "As long as I can sing halfway decent, I'd rather sing (than act). There's nothing like being in good voice, feeling good, having good numbers to do and having a fine orchestra."

Howard Keel, "Showboat" musical singer, starred in TV's "Dallas", dies

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041108/ap_en_ce/obit_keel_20

Yahoo! News/AP-November 7, 2004

:(

I loved Howard Keel! He had a beautiful voice and was a handsome man.

I've seen Kiss Me Kate, but I'll remember him most for 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'- he was a really great singer.

No mention of him last night, just a couple scenes of him, but they never talk about him.

There's a thread on the main Chit-Chat board about him. It's so sad. I always thought he was one of the best voices on the screen - I'd take him over Sinatra any day.

My personal favorite of his costars was Kathryn Grayson. And they stayed friends for a long time:

http://www.kathryngrayson.com/photos/sb09.jpg

RIP Howard Keel

Makes me mad, ET nor Access Hollywood mentioned his death, AH just had a little blurb that scrolled across the bottom of the screen that said it, and it's so small that it was hard to make out :mad:

OMG Thats soooo sad I loved him with Doris Day in "Calamity Jane" :(

Show me a picture of him. I forgot what he looked like.