Lauritz Melchior born 20 March 1890 (d. 1973)Born in Copenhagen, Denmark Lauritz Melchior was a boy soprano and amateur singer before starting operatic vocal training in 1908.
He became a professional opera singer in 1913, initially performing as a baritone. Between 1917 & 1918 he studied to become a heldentenor - a powerful tenor suited to heroic operatic roles.
In 1920, he came to England where he sang in an experimental radio broadcast for the Marconi company, and where he met a man who was to become patron and lover for several years - author Hugh Walpole. After his relationship with Walpole cooled he apparently enjoyed the company of a merchant seaman he shared with his friend, the American poet, Hart Crane. He also married.
Melchior began to master the major Wagnerian roles which were to become his trademark; through the 1920s he performed in most of the major concert halls and opera houses in the Western world, with most of the great sopranos and conductors of the age, but he is best known for his hundreds of Wagner performances as a member of the Metropolitan Opera company between 1926 and 1950.
He appeared in 5 Hollywood musicals for MGM and Paramount between 1944 and 1952, mostly in jovial singing grandfather roles. In 1947, his hand and footprints were immortalised in cement in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
He unofficially retired in 1955, although he continued to make occasional singing appearances. In the late 1960s, he set up a fund through the Juilliard school for the training of heldentenors. He was married twice but is widely acknowledged to have batted for both teams. A household name in his day, he is not so widely remembered today, although many recordings of his performances are still available.
He died in Santa Monica, California in 1973. He had been an American citizen since 1947, but is buried in Copenhagen.