Hey, edgar. I remember "Chances Are". Johnny and Deniece sound great on that one.
Here's one that will make me smile, and I hope all of our listeners.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsQrKZcYtqg
I've never heard that one by Little Jimmy Dickens, edgar, but I certainly know others by him. When I was at UVA, my adviser brought up the subject of an Appalachian IQ test. He was originally from New York and he couldn't answer any of the questions. One question was: Who did "Take and Old Cold Tater and Wait?" He said, "What's a tater?" I laughed and told him that was by Little Jimmy Dickens, making it obvious that IQ tests were and are culture bound.
All over our forum this song has been cited as politically viable, so here it is by someone other than Tammy Wynette.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNlyWdXS8JU&feature=related
Letty wrote:I've never heard that one by Little Jimmy Dickens, edgar, but I certainly know others by him. When I was at UVA, my adviser brought up the subject of an Appalachian IQ test. He was originally from New York and he couldn't answer any of the questions. One question was: Who did "Take and Old Cold Tater and Wait?" He said, "What's a tater?" I laughed and told him that was by Little Jimmy Dickens, making it obvious that IQ tests were and are culture bound.
All over our forum this song has been cited as politically viable, so here it is by someone other than Tammy Wynette.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNlyWdXS8JU&feature=related
When I was a child, lots of us were emmigrants to California from the south and mid west. One boy I recall used to laugh at me for calling aigs "eggs."
Funny, edgar.
Well, this may seem an odd song to play as my goodnight song, but I need to make some calls to my Virginia family about that sniper business that RJB was talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0qFOgOMQGs
Tomorrow, I hope.
From Letty with love
Good morning, WA2K folks.
Wow! That was a sad song, edgar, and how strange that I found one that tends to match it.
Seems that my Virginia family is fine and not too concerned with their own safety in the matter of the sniper on I-64. Hope there are no casualities in any other families.
Reba Mcentire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kXOKynejCg
And, y'all, a little music history about the song, "My One and Only Love"
My One and Only Love is one of the most finely wrought ballads to be written in the postwar period. While many would agree with Green now, the song was far from an instant hit.
The song originated in 1947 as "Music from Beyond the Moon," with music by Guy B. Wood and lyrics by Jack Lawrence. In 1948 Vic Damone recorded the song as did Tony Martin the following year, but neither could generate a hit.
While I am not much of a Reba fan, I found that one intersting and really good.
Hey, all. Welcome to the edgar and Letty macabre hour on WA2K.
Today is the anniversary of The Three Mile Island scare.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72ToROmnUJE
Good afternoon WA2K.
Hard to believe the Three-Mile Island incident was 29 years ago.
Strange videos - not your typical TCM fare.
So let's remember 2 typical TCM Stars on their day:
Dame Flora Robson (she was great in Wuthering Heights
) and Freddie Bartholomew (Captains Courageous and David Copperfield) and English actor Dirk Bogarde.
and wishing a Happy 66th to American bass opera star Samuel Ramey; 64th to Ken Howard; 60th to Dianne Wiest and 53rd to Reba McIntyre
Hey, PA. Thanks for the great montage of mentionables.
Your trio of TCM folks is familiar, but not enough for the PD to find a song by any of the three.
Let's listen to Samuel Ramey as Mephastophales. This one may be his role in Goethe's Faust. Regardless, he is excellent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PZS_L6mH1M
My word, Letty, put on your glasses and read Boito. It's Italian, dumkoff. It was, however, based on Goethe's Faust.
Redeemed by research, y'all. Gonna guess again, but was Freddy part of Little Lord Fauntleroy? I think so.
Flora Robson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born Flora McKenzie Robson
March 28, 1902(1902-03-28)
South Shields, England
Died July 7, 1984 (aged 82)
Brighton, Sussex, England
Dame Flora McKenzie Robson DBE (28 March 1902-7 July 1984) was an Oscar-nominated English actress, renowned as one of the great character players and one of Britain's theatrical grandes dames.
Early Life
She was born in South Shields,[1] of Scottish descent. Many of her forebears were engineers, mostly in shipping. Her father, who was a major influence in her life was a ship's engineer, prior to retiring and moving from South Shields to Welwyn Garden City. She was one of a large family, with two brothers, John and David, and sisters Eliza (Lila), Margaret (Darge), Helen (Nellie) and Shela. Flora, Lila and Darge remained unmarried.
Very early in life, her father discovered that Flora had a talent for recitation and from the age of six, she was taken around by horse and carriage to recite, and to compete in recitations. She grew very used to winning and was always distraught if she lost. She was educated at the Palmers Green High School.
Career
This established a pattern which remained with her. She acted almost into her eighties, latterly for American television films largely, but in her later years, she also gave several outstanding performances for British TV, including in The Shrimp and the Anemone. Sadly much of this material is unavailable, including a fine "Mother Courage" which she did for television in days when intellectual content was not forbidden. She also continued to act in the West End theatre, in such plays as Ring Round the Moon, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Three Sisters. She saw herself primarily as a stage actress and had that sadness that many such have, that the performance, once over, is gone forever, however fine.
Both the BBC and ITV made special programmes to celebrate her 80th birthday. Her private life was largely focused on her large family of sisters, nephews and nieces, who used the home in Wykeham Terrace Brighton, which she shared with sisters Darge and Shela, as a hub of activities.
Robson made her stage debut in 1921 at the age of nineteen. Standing 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m), but decidedly lacking the glamorous looks of a leading lady, she specialized in character roles, notably that of Queen Elizabeth I in both Fire Over England (1937) and The Sea Hawk (1940). At the age of thirty-two, Robson played the Empress Elizabeth in Alexander Korda's Catherine the Great (1934). She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Saratoga Trunk (1945). After the war, demonstrating her range, she appeared in Holiday Camp (1947), the first of a series of films which featured the very ordinary Huggett family; as Sister Philippa in Black Narcissus (1947); as a magistrate in Goodtime Girl (1948); as a prospective Labour MP in Frieda (1947); and in costume melodrama, Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948). Her success in Hollywood brought her wider recognition.
She was created a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1952, and raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1960, an award which was partly for her charity work, largely un-noted, but which she did until her death, often for small and rather obscure charities, rather than the grand ones which would have given her more publicity. This was part of her Christian upbringing and her sense that she should "give something back". She was also the first famous name to become President of the Brighton Little Theatre.
She died in Brighton of cancer at the age of 82, never having married or had children. The sisters with whom she shared her life and her house died around the same time: Shela shortly before her in 1984, and Margaret on February 1, 1985. There is a plaque on their house in Wykeham Terrace, Dyke Road, Brighton, and also one in the doorway of the church of St. Nicholas, just up the hill from their house and of which Flora was a great supporter. In 1996, the British Film Institute erected a plaque at number 14 Marine Gardens, location of Flora's other Brighton home, where she lived from 1961 to 1976.
Charles Starrett
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Starrett (March 28, 1903 - March 22, 1986) was an American actor best known for his starring role in the Durango Kid Columbia Pictures western series. He was born in Athol, Massachusetts.
A graduate of Worcester Academy in 1922, Starrett went on to study at Dartmouth College. While on the Darmouth football team, he was hired to play a football extra in the 1926 film The Quarterback. In 1930 he played the romantic lead in Fast and Loose, which also featured Miriam Hopkins, Carole Lombard and Frank Morgan. After that, he was very active for the next two years but his roles were unremarkable. In 1933 he was one of the people who helped organize the Screen Actors Guild, and in 1936 signed with Columbia Pictures to become one of the top ten western stars, starring in 115 movies the following 16 years.
After playing assorted sheriff and rangers roles, Starrett gained notoriety for his role as the Durango Kid. The first film in which he played his famous alter-ego character was known as The Durango Kid, which was released in 1940, but for some reason, Columbia did not see fit to continue with the series at that time. The character was revived in 1944 and lasted through 1952. Dub Taylor, as "Cannonball", worked with Starrett until 1946. At that time, Smiley Burnette, who had been a very popular sidekick to Gene Autry, was brought in to replace Taylor. Burnette, appropriately enough, played a character called Smiley Burnette. The Durango Kid films combined vigorous action sequences - often with speeded up camera work and spectacular stunts performed by Jock Mahoney - and western music. Each film featured a singing group, and many gave free rein to Burnette's singing and playing.
Starrett, who was independently wealthy, ended his acting career at age 48 when the Durango Kid series ceased production. He once told the Dartmouth alumni magazine that most of his California neighbors thought he was a retired banker.
Starrett died in Borrego Springs, California, six days short of his 83rd birthday.
Fact
Diehard film and video collectors still relish the Durango Kid films, but many are still locked away in Columbia studio vaults these many years later, with only a few recently being aired on The Movie Channel (TMC).
Trivia
In Durango Kid movies, the main character was usually called "Steve" something, but he could change outfits and horses to become the hero behind the black mask. His horses were named "Bullet" (Steve) and "Raider" (Durango).
NOTE: Most of the Durango Kid movies have showed up on the Encore Westerns channel and not The Movie Channel. Around twenty have been screened thus far; Columbia/Sony have released two (thus far) on DVD: Bonanza Town and Blazing Across the Pecos, both superior vehicles and both in great quality.
Jimmie Dodd
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born March 28, 1910(1910-03-28)
Cincinnati, Ohio
Died November 10, 1964 (aged 54)
Honolulu, Hawaii
James Wesley Dodd (March 28, 1910 - November 10, 1964) was best known as the MC of the popular 1950s Disney TV show, The Mickey Mouse Club, as well as the writer of its well-known theme song, The Mickey Mouse Club March.
Dodd had some early film roles in The Three Mesquiteers series of westerns.
Dodd broke in the William Holden Film "Those Were the Days" (1939) in a minor role.
He also played the taxi driver in the MGM film "Easter Parade" (1948), starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland.
Dodd had a small role in an early episode of Adventures of Superman, titled Double Trouble. He also appeared in many theatrical films in the 1940s and 1950s, often uncredited.
Dodd was the heart and soul of the Mickey Mouse Club TV series, which aired each weekday. He always wore his toothy smile and Mouseke-ears, played his famous Mouse-guitar and sang self-composed songs. His simple yet timeless tunes contained positive messages for kids. In addition, among his other musical contributions is a song that a generation of kids has used for almost fifty years to spell "encyclopedia." Dodd also wrote the theme song for Zorro (TV series) and wrote and performed songs in several of his movies.
The original Mouseketeers were frequent guests at the Dodd home for backyard barbecues and sing-alongs. They said that Dodd treated them as part of his extended family. His genuineness shone through his persona and his music to the millions of children whose lives he touched.
Dodd died of cancer on November 10, 1964, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was 54.
Dirk Bogarde
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogarde
March 28, 1921(1921-03-28)
West Hampstead, London
Died May 8, 1999 (aged 78)
Chelsea, London
Years active 1939 - 1990
Awards won
BAFTA Awards
Best Actor in a Leading Role
1963 The Servant
1965 Darling
Sir Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde (28 March 1921 - 8 May 1999), better known by his stage name Dirk Bogarde, was an actor and author.
Early years and war service
Bogarde was born in West Hampstead, London, of mixed Flemish, Dutch and Scottish ancestry. His father, Ulric van den Bogaerde (born in Perry Barr, Birmingham), was the art editor of The Times and his mother Margaret Niven was a former actress. He attended the former Allan Glen's School in Glasgow, a time he described in his autobiography as unhappy, although others have disputed his account [3]. Bogarde served in World War II, being commissioned into the Queen's Royal Regiment in 1943. He reached the rank of Major and served in both the European and Pacific theatres, principally as an intelligence officer. In April 1945, he claimed he was one of the first Allied officers to reach the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, an experience that had the most profound effect on him and about which he found it difficult to speak for many years afterward. His horror and revulsion at the cruelty and inhumanity that he witnessed in Belsen left him with a deep-seated hostility towards Germany; he wrote in the 1990s that he would disembark from an elevator rather than ride with a German.[citation needed] Nevertheless, three of his more memorable film roles were as Germans, one of them as a former SS officer (The Night Porter [4]). He was most vocal, toward the end of his life, on the issue of voluntary euthanasia, of which he became a staunch proponent after witnessing the protracted death of his partner and manager Anthony Forwood in 1988. He gave an interview to John Hofsess, London executive director of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society:
"My views were formulated as a 24-year-old officer in Normandy ... On one occasion the Jeep ahead hit a mine ... Next thing I knew, there was this chap in the long grass beside me. A bloody bundle, shrapnel-ripped, legless, one arm only. The one arm reached out to me, white eyeballs wide, unseeing, in the bloody mask that had been a face. A gurgling voice said, 'Help. Kill me.' With shaking hands I reached for my small pouch to load my revolver ... I had to look for my bullets -- by which time somebody else had already taken care of him. I heard the shot. I still remember that gurgling sound. A voice pleading for death ...
"During the war I saw more wounded men being 'taken care of' than I saw being rescued. Because sometimes you were too far from a dressing station, sometimes you couldn't get them out. And they were pumping blood or whatever; they were in such a wreck, the only thing to do was to shoot them. And they were, so don't think they weren't. That hardens you: You get used to the fact that it can happen. And that it is the only sensible thing to do."
Film career
After the war, Bogarde's good looks helped him begin a career as a film actor, contracted to The Rank Organisation[citation needed]. His 1950 appearance as the criminal, Tom Riley, who shoots Police Constable George Dixon in The Blue Lamp launched him as a lead player, but it was the comedy, Doctor in the House (1954), produced by Betty Box, directed by Ralph Thomas and co-starring Kenneth More, Donald Sinden, and James Robertson Justice as his crabby mentor, which made Bogarde a star.[citation needed]
During the 1950s, he also starred as a murderer who befriends a young boy in Hunted (aka The Stranger in Between) (1952); Appointment in London (1953) as a young airman in Bomber Command who, against orders, joins a major offensive against the Germans; The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954), playing a flight sergeant trapped in a dinghy with Sir Michael Redgrave; The Sleeping Tiger (1954), playing a neurotic criminal with co-star Alexis Smith in fine form, and Bogarde's first film for American expatriate director Joseph Losey; Doctor at Sea (1955), co-starring Brigitte Bardot in one of her first film roles; Cast a Dark Shadow (1955), as a man who marries women for money and then kills them; The Spanish Gardener (1956), co-starring Cyril Cusack and Bernard Lee; Doctor at Large (1957), another entry in the "Doctor series", co-starring Shirley Eaton; A Tale of Two Cities (1958), a faithful retelling of Charles Dickens' classic; The Doctor's Dilemma (1959), by George Bernard Shaw and co-starring Leslie Caron and Robert Morley, not a part of the "Doctor series"; and Libel (1959), playing three separate roles and co-starring Olivia de Havilland. Bogarde quickly became a matinee idol and was Britain's number one box office draw of the 1950s, gaining the title of "The Matinee Idol of the Odeon."
After 1960, Bogarde abandoned his heart-throb image for more challenging parts, such as barrister Melville Farr in Victim (1961); decadent valet Hugo Barrett in The Servant (1963) (directed by Joseph Losey); television reporter Robert Gold in Darling (1965); Stephen, a bored Oxford University professor, in Accident (1967); German industrialist Frederick Bruckman in Luchino Visconti's The Damned (1969); the ex-Nazi, Max, in the chilling and controversial The Night Porter (1974) directed by Liliana Cavani; and, most notably, as Gustav von Aschenbach in Death in Venice (1971) also directed by Luchino Visconti, now probably his best-remembered role.
Other films during the 1960s and 1970s were The Angel Wore Red (1960), playing an unfrocked priest who falls in love with cabaret entertainer Ava Gardner during the Spanish Civil War; Song Without End (1960), playing Franz Liszt and directed by George Cukor; The Singer Not the Song (1961), as a Mexican bandit and co-starring Sir John Mills as a priest; HMS Defiant (aka Damn the Defiant!) (1962), playing sadistic Lieutenant Scott-Padget and stealing the movie from co-star Sir Alec Guinness; I Could Go On Singing (1963), co-starring Judy Garland in her final screen role; The Mind Benders (1963), an off-beat film about sensory deprivation experiments at Oxford University (precursor to Altered States (1980)); Hot Enough For June, (aka Agent 8 3/4) (1964), a James Bond-type spy spoof; King And Country (1964), playing an army lawyer reluctantly defending deserter Tom Courtenay; Modesty Blaise (1966), a camp spy send-up playing the archvillain Gabriel; Our Mother's House (1967), an off-beat film playing an estranged father of seven children and directed by Jack Clayton; The Fixer (1968), based on Bernard Malamud's novel, co-starring Alan Bates; Sebastian (1968), co-starring Sir John Gielgud, Susannah York, and Lilli Palmer; Oh! What A Lovely War (1969), co-starring Sir John Gielgud, Sir Laurence Olivier and directed by Sir Richard Attenborough; Justine (1969), directed by George Cukor; Le Serpent (1973), co-starring Henry Fonda and Yul Brynner; A Bridge Too Far (1977), in a rather controversial performance as Lieutenant General Frederick "Boy" Browning; Providence (1977), co-starring Sir John Gielgud; Despair (1978); and Daddy Nostalgie (1991) co-starring Jane Birkin, Bogarde's final film role.
While a contract performer at the Rank Organisation, Bogarde was considered for a screen version of Lawrence Of Arabia, to be directed by Anthony Asquith.[citation needed] The role of Lawrence eventually went to Peter O'Toole and was directed by David Lean. Not getting the role of Lawrence of Arabia was Bogarde's greatest screen disappointment.[1] Bogarde was also reportedly considered for the title role in MGM's Doctor Zhivago (1965).[citation needed] Earlier, he declined Louis Jourdan's role as Gaston in MGM's Gigi (1958).[citation needed]. Also, according to John Coldstream's biography Bogarde was offered a stage role at The Chichester Festival Theatre by Sir Laurence Olivier, but regetably had to decline due to film commitments.
Bogarde was nominated six times as Best Actor by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), winning twice, for The Servant in 1963, and for Darling in 1965. He also received the London Film Critics Circle Lifetime Award in 1991. He made a total of 63 films between 1939 and 1991.
Later career and private life
In 1977, Bogarde embarked on his second career as an author. Starting with a first volume A Postillion Struck by Lightning, he wrote a series of autobiographical volumes, novels and book reviews. As a writer Bogarde displayed a witty, elegant, highly literate and thoughtful style, though some find his style to be somewhat precious at times.
Bogarde was a life-long bachelor and, during his life, was reported to be homosexual.[2] Bogarde's most serious friendship with a woman was with the bisexual French actress Capucine. For many years he shared his homes, first in Amersham, England, then in France with his manager Anthony Forwood (a former husband of the actress Glynis Johns and the father of her only child, actor Gareth Forwood), but repeatedly denied that their relationship was anything other than friendship. These denials were understandable, mainly given that homosexual acts were illegal during most of his career, and also given his following among female admirers which he was loath to jeopardise. His brother Gareth Van den Bogaerde confirmed in a 2004 interview that Bogarde was engaging in homosexual sex at a time when such acts were illegal, and also that his long-term relationship with Tony Forwood was more than simply that of a manager and friend. [3]
Bogarde starred in the landmark 1961 film Victim, playing a prominent homosexual barrister in London who fights the blackmailers of a young man with whom he had an emotional relationship. The young man commits suicide after being arrested for embezzlement, rather than ruining the attorney's reputation. In the process of exposing the ring of extortionists, Bogarde's character puts at risk his successful legal career and marriage in order to see that justice is served. Victim was the first mainstream British film to treat the subject of homosexuality seriously and the film helped lead to the changing of the law.
As Britain's leading box-office star of the 1950s, Bogarde displayed enormous personal courage in appearing in such a controversial film as Victim, which could have destroyed his career at that time. However, his performance opened a path to more challenging roles that gained him respect as one of the leading actors in the intellectual ("art house") film genre. Bogarde's decision to appear in Victim appears even more daring today, given that many contemporary film stars are afraid to portray a serious gay character because of the perceived public reaction and effect on their career that such a role could have.
Despite the stereotyping his performance in Victim could have brought him, during his career Bogarde portrayed heterosexual single or married men in the majority of his films, with the exception of his roles in Victim, The Servant, Modesty Blaise, and Death in Venice, although even those roles could be considered as being more bisexual than homosexual in nature.
Bogarde's controversial film choices later in his career led him to have something of a cult following. The singer Morrissey was a fan and, according to Charlotte Rampling[4], Bogarde was approached in 1990 by Madonna to appear in her video for Justify My Love, citing The Night Porter as an inspiration. Bogarde declined the offer.
In 1984, Bogarde served as president of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. He was the first Briton ever to serve in that capacity, and this represented an immense honor for Bogarde. He was knighted in 1992 for services to acting, and was the recipient of several honorary doctorates, including from St Andrews and Sussex universities.
Formerly a heavy smoker, Bogarde suffered a minor stroke in November 1987 while Anthony Forwood was dying of liver cancer and Parkinson's disease. Never afraid of voicing his opinion, after witnessing Forwood's protracted death he became active in promoting voluntary euthanasia for terminally ill patients in Britain and toured the UK giving lectures and answering questions from live audiences on the subject. It was a cause, he stated, that had been important to him since the war, during which he had witnessed severely injured men pleading to be put out of their misery[5].
In September 1996, he underwent angioplasty to widen arteries leading to his heart and suffered a pulmonary embolism following this operation. For the final three years of his life Bogarde was paralyzed on one side of his body, which affected his speech. He managed, however, to complete a final volume of autobiography, which covered the stroke and its effect on him. He spent some time the day before he died with his good friend Lauren Bacall. Sir Dirk Bogarde died in London from a heart attack on May 8, 1999, aged 78. His ashes were scattered at his former beloved estate of "Le Haut Clermont" in Grasse, Southern France.
Freddie Bartholomew
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Freddie Bartholomew (March 28, 1924 - January 23, 1992), born Frederick Llewellyn March, was a British child actor, popular in 1930s Hollywood films.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Bartholomew was abandoned by his parents while a baby, and was raised in London by his aunt, whose name he took. While visiting the United States, Bartholomew was reportedly seen by film producer David O. Selznick who was soon to film Charles Dickens' David Copperfield (1935). Selznick had already cast American boy David Holt in the role, but after meeting Bartholomew realised that the character would benefit from being played by a British actor. The all-star film was a success and Bartholomew was cast in a succession of prestigious film productions with some of the most popular stars of the day.
Among his successes of the 1930s were Anna Karenina (1935), with Greta Garbo and Fredric March, Professional Soldier (1935) with Gloria Stuart, Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) with Dolores Costello, Lloyds of London (1937) with Madeleine Carroll and Tyrone Power, and Captains Courageous (1937) with Spencer Tracy.
By this time Bartholomew's success and level of fame had caused his parents to attempt to gain custody of him. A protracted legal battle saw much of the wealth Bartholomew had amassed spent on legal fees. He continued acting into the 1940s but was much less popular as a teenaged actor, and by the early 1950s had retired from film.
He established a career in advertising and distanced himself from Hollywood. Bartholomew was said to have been bitter over his lost fortune and his experiences in Hollywood, but by the early 1980s he was working as a producer for the soap opera As The World Turns. Shortly before his death he allowed an interview for the television documentary MGM: When the Lion Roars (1992).
He died from emphysema in Sarasota, Florida.
Bartholomew has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to motion pictures, at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard.
Samuel Ramey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The American opera singer Samuel Edward Ramey (born March 28, 1942 in Colby, Kansas) is considered one of the finest basso cantante singers of his generation. He is greatly admired for his range and versatility, having both the bel canto technique to sing Handel, Mozart, Rossini, as well as the power to handle the dramatic roles of Verdi and Puccini. He was married to soprano Lindsey Larsen, June 29, 2002.
Early life
Samuel Ramey is a 1960 graduate of Colby High School in Colby, Kansas. He studied music in high school and in college at Kansas State University and Wichita State. In College at Kansas State, Ramey was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. After further study in Central City (where he was in the chorus of Don Giovanni in 1963, with Norman Treigle in the name part) and as an apprentice with the Santa Fe Opera, he went to New York where he had his first breakthrough at the New York City Opera.
As his repertoire expanded, he spent more and more time in the theatres of Europe, notably in Berlin, Hamburg, London, Paris, Vienna, and the summer festivals in Aix-en-Provence, Glyndebourne, Pesaro, and Salzburg.
Later career
In January 1984, Ramey made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Handel's Rinaldo. He has since become a fixture at the La Scala, Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, the Paris Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the New York City Opera, and the San Francisco Opera.
In the bel canto repertoire, Ramey has excelled in Mozart's Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro and in Rossini's Semiramide, The Barber of Seville, Il Turco in Italia, L'Italiana in Algeri; in Donizetti's Anna Bolena and Lucia di Lammermoor and Bellini's I Puritani.
In the dramatic repertoire, Ramey has been acclaimed for his "Three Devils": Boito's Mefistofele, Gounod's Faust, and Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust
Other dramatic roles have included Verdi's Nabucco, Don Carlo, I Lombardi and Jerusalem and Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann (all four villains). A number of previously obscure operas with strong bass-baritone roles have been revived solely for Ramey, such as Verdi's Attila, Rossini's Maometto II, and Massenet's Don Quichotte.
Recordings
Ramey has made a huge number of recordings, including nearly all of his operatic roles as well as collections of arias, symphonic works, and crossover discs of popular American music. He has also appeared on television and video productions of the Met's Carmen and Bluebeard's Castle, San Francisco's Mefistofele, Glyndebourne's The Rake's Progress and Salzburg's Don Giovanni.
In 1996, Ramey gave a concert at New York's Avery Fisher Hall titled "A Date with the Devil" in which he sang fourteen arias representing the core of this repertoire, and he continues to tour this program throughout the world. In 2000, Ramey presented this concert at Munich's Gasteig Concert Hall. This performance was recorded live and was released on compact disc in summer 2002.
Current activities
Ramey lives in Chicago and participates in some seventy performances a year.
He is on faculty at Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts.
