Howard Keel (1919-2004)

It is, I concede, time to pull myself out of my post-election funk and face up to the fact that I harbor the richest contempt for something like sixty million of my fellow citizens.  (How’s that for healing?)  Howard Keel’s death at eighty-five adds a little to the misery.  Keel was in movies and television from the late 1940s until recently, but he hit his stride between 1950 and 1954, adding a great deal of energy and personality to some Hollywood musicals that, except for the last one, might have been forgotten without him.  He provided some stability to the overcaffeinated Betty Hutton in Annie Get Your Gun (1950), was about the only lead who could carry a tune in Showboat (1951), paired well with Doris Day in Calamity Jane (1953), gave some star presence to Kiss me Kate (1953), where the supporting parts and chorus were the most interesting, and didn’t distract from Michael Kidd’s inspired choreography in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).  The fact that Gordon MacRae and not Keel was given the male lead in Oklahoma (1955) and Carousel (1956) helped doom both to sodden obscurity.  His career didn’t exactly die when musicals went terminal, but these were his glory years, hard not to enjoy. 

Comments

[ali]

I like your page very informative on Howard keel,he was a great star,i didnt actually know he was no longer alive,i love him in calamity jane with the great icon Doris day,keep up the good work maybe you could comment my page.
Thanks.

[berlin]

Gut!