william warfield, who sang 'old man river' in the 1951 movie version of
showboat, died on sunday. we've had threads about lumps in the throat and
gooseflesh, and that moment in the movie is one of my few guaranteed wet-eye
moments. never fails to choke me up. i bow my head my head for a moment in
appreciation, i hope you'll consider doing the same.
the obit and particularly the remembrance are particularly wonderful.
patrick
np - zero 7
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William Warfield Dies
By Andrew Buchanan
Associated Press; Chicago Tribune
August 27, 2002
CHICAGO (AP) - William Warfield, an acclaimed bass-baritone known best for
his rendition of "Ol' Man River" in the musical "Show Boat," has died.
Warfield, 82, died Sunday at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago where
he had been recovering from a fall late last month, his brother Thaddeus
Warfield said. An autopsy was pending.
Warfield had most recently served as a professor of music at Northwestern
University.
During his career, the versatile singer and pianist ran the gamut of show
business from stints in churches and nightclubs to performances on stage
and screen.
In 1952, Warfield performed in "Porgy and Bess" during a tour of Europe
sponsored by the U.S. State Department. He played opposite the opera star
Leontyne Price. They soon were married but the demands of two separate
careers left them little time together. They divorced in 1972.
In 1975, Warfield gave a sold-out concert in Carnegie Hall marking the 25th
anniversary of his New York debut, and in 1984 he received a Grammy award
for his narration of Aaron Copland's "A Lincoln Portrait."
Prior to joining Northwestern in 1994, Warfield was the chair of the voice
department at the University of Illinois.
The son of a Baptist preacher, Warfield was born in the South but grew up in
Rochester, N.Y. He earned a degree from the Eastman School of Music at the
University of Rochester.
Warfield is survived by two brothers, and numerous nieces and nephews.
====
Pioneering bass-baritone defined `Ol' Man River'
By John von Rhein, Tribune music critic. Tribune theater critic
Michael Phillips and Tribune news services contributed to this report
Published August 27, 2002
William Warfield, the velvet-voiced American bass-baritone who died
Sunday in the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago where he had been
recovering from a fall, was a shining example of the human spirit's refusal
to bow to the physical challenges of old age.
Warfield, 82, sang his final performance little more than a month ago
in Cambridge, Mass., where he brought down the house with "Ol' Man River,"
the Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein song that was his signature.
In Warfield's big, still-imposing voice, the line "I'm tired of living
and scared of dying" carried an especially poignant resonance. At the time
of the concert, he was quoted as saying, "Music will always be a healing
refuge, a refuge to which man retreats whenever he needs something beyond
himself."
He was closely associated with George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" (in
which he portrayed Porgy opposite Leontyne Price, to whom he was married)
and famously sang "Ol' Man River" in the 1951 MGM film version of "Show
Boat." A respected voice teacher later in life, he was chairman of the Voice
Department at the University of Illinois before joining the Northwestern
University School of Music faculty in 1984 as a part-time voice professor.
But even more remarkable was Warfield's success in carving out the
beginnings of a notable career at a time when there were relatively few
opportunities for African-American singers in classical music.
His many accomplishments made him a role model for aspiring black
classical musicians.
"He was truly devoted to sharing with others what music gave him
throughout his life," said Bernard Dobroski, dean of the Northwestern School
of Music, where Warfield was due to resume teaching next month.
"He was a wonderful man, a wonderful singer and artist," said soprano
Camilla Williams, a close friend. "We came along at a time when it wasn't so
easy. But he at least had the chance to sing what he sang." With the film
version of "Show Boat," Williams said, "People were grateful to hear him
sing, whether it was `real' opera or not."
Martina Arroyo, another friend and colleague, recalled that her church
group made the trip from 154th Street to Midtown in Manhattan to see "Show
Boat." When Warfield's rich, roaring rendition of "Ol' Man River" ended, the
operatic soprano-to-be said, "It was the first time I'd ever seen an
audience stand up and applaud after a number in a movie. The people actually
began applauding and standing up."
Warfield broke his neck during a fall late last month outside his
South Side home. His condition had been improving and he was moved last week
from Northwestern Memorial Hospital to the Rehabilitation Institute, said
his brother Thaddeus. The cause of death had not been determined, and an
autopsy was to be performed Monday, his brother said.
In a January 2000 interview with the Tribune, Warfield made no secret
of the fact that he loved the attention he was getting at an age when most
singers have long since retired.
"Why should I quit the stage, anyway? Age has nothing to do with
anything. As long as this old voice holds out and I still enjoy it, I'll
never stop singing," he said, in that deep oratorical voice that put him in
high demand as a narrator for Aaron Copland's "A Lincoln Portrait."
During his career, which began more than 50 years ago with his
triumphant debut recital in New York's Town Hall, Warfield covered the show
business waterfront--from stints in churches and nightclubs to performances
on stage and screen.
In 1952 Warfield performed opposite Price in "Porgy and Bess" during a
tour of Europe sponsored by the U.S. State Department. After they married in
1952, they found that the demands of two careers left them little time
together. They divorced in 1972.
In a television interview, he recalled, "There was a time when a black
artist thought very seriously as to whether or not he or she should perform
in `Porgy' or `Show Boat.'" He said that black groups had misgivings that
Russia would use the touring "Porgy" production as propaganda to highlight
the problem of racism in the United States.
"Leontyne and I both had to search our hearts before we decided to do
the tour," he said. "But I have to tell you, the tour produced absolutely
the opposite reaction. What the foreign press saw and reported, including
the Russians, was a group of gifted artists performing an exciting work in
an exciting manner."
In 1975 Warfield gave a sold-out concert in Carnegie Hall marking the
25th anniversary of his New York debut, and in 1984 he received a Grammy
Award.
As his trademark, "Ol' Man River" was the song he most often was asked
to sing.
"It's different every time, and that's what keeps it fresh for me,"
the singer told the Tribune. "I adapt it to what is on my mind in the course
of the day I'm performing. Sometimes there's a sadness to it, sometimes it's
really laid-back and sometimes it's even angry. The most difficult time I
had with it was singing it just four days after Martin Luther King's
assassination. It was a Sunday matinee in a small Midwestern town. I had to
hold back my emotion somewhat to keep from breaking down altogether."
Warfield's original goal was to become a music teacher, not a singer.
Born the son of a Baptist preacher in Arkansas and raised in Rochester,
N.Y., he was awarded a scholarship to the Eastman School of Music and
interrupted his studies to serve four years in the Military Intelligence
Division of the Army.
Warfield is survived by two brothers and numerous nieces and nephews.
Services will be held in Mt. Vernon Baptist Church in Rochester, possibly
Saturday, and he will be buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester, his
brother said.
