Trivia of Howard Keel

 Trivia of Howard Keel (13 April 1919 - 7 November 2004)

*At age 20, Keel was overheard singing by his landlady Mom Rider 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 took place in the summer of 1941 when he played the role of Samuel the Prophet in Handel's oratorio Saul (singing a duet with bass-baritone George London).

*Oscar Hammerstein II discovered Keel in 1946 during John Raitt's understudy auditions for the role of Billy Bigelow in Broadway's popular musical "Carousel."

*Howard Keel was MGM's answer to Warner Bros.' Gordon MacRae.He became a star with his very first musical in MGM, playing sharpshooter Frank Butler opposite brassy Betty Hutton's Annie Oakley in the film version of the Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun (1950).

*Howard Keel was the original choice to play the lead in Singin' in the Rain (1952). The part went to Gene Kelly instead.

*During his career, Howard Keel starred in many musical movies, such : Annie Get Your Gun (1951) opposite Betty Hutton, Show Boat (1951) opposite Ava Gardner, Texas Carnival (1951) opposite Esther Williams,Lovely to Look At (1952) opposite Kathryne Grayson, Calamity Jane (1953) opposite Doris Day, Kismet (1955) opposite Ann Blyth.

*Reportedly Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) was Howard Keel's personal favorite of his movies.Howard Keel called this film "one of my happiest filmmaking experiences at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The cast was magnificent, and the chemistry irresistible. Jack Cummings had his stamp on the whole picture. Jane Powell, as Milly, was perfect, and I loved working with her. She was cute and persnickety and a multi-talented pro. It truly was one big happy family."

*He was good friend of his on-screen match up, Esther Williams. Esther Williams even gave his daughter, Kaija Keel, swimming lessons.

*With renewed fame, Keel commenced his first solo recording career, at age 64, as well as a successful concert career in the UK. He released the album With Love in 1984, which sold poorly. However, his album And I Love You So reached #6 in the UK Albums Chart and #37 in Australia in 1984.