Pianist Shura Cherkassky, 84, Pioneer of Romantic School, Dies

Photo courtesy Ivory Classics

By Allan Kozninn

Shura Cherkassky, a Ukrainian-born, London-based pianist whose individualistic interpretive style and affinity for dazzling virtuoso showpieces made him one of the last exponents of the great Romantic keyboard tradition, died on Wednesday at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London. He was 84.

Mr. Cherkassky was a small, gnomic figure who could seem unprepossessing and at times self-effacing in interviews and who routinely brushed off his reviews, both positive and negative. He declared himself wholly unfit to teach and described his musical education as sketchy, particularly in the realm of music theory.

He was likely to express, without prompting, his doubts about his ability to play Mozart or Debussy persuasively. And when he spoke about the musical world, the concert and record business or his own place in the scheme of things, he did so with a bemused, almost detached air.

Yet he was a completely commanding figure on the concert stage. His performances of standard repertory works by Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Mussorgsky and Liszt were invariably packed with idiosyncratic twists and turns that made his readings incendiary, and when he played virtuosic Strauss waltz transcriptions by Godowsky and Schulz-Evler, or essays in tone color by Balakirev or Hofmann, he could create the impression that he possessed more than two hands.

Because he was disinclined to play pieces the same way twice, he could be an erratic performer, and there were times when his interpretive experiments went awry. But listeners attended his recitals with the expectation that he would offer them something unusual, and he remained faithful to that expectation, both in his interpretations and his choice of repertory. He could be an adventurer, at times. Though renowned for his readings of 19th- and mainstream 20th-century works, he included music by Berg, Stockhausen, Messiaen, Copland and Bernstein on his programs in recent years.

"I do everything by intuition," Mr. Cherkassky told The New York Times in 1978. "I even live by intuition. For some people it works well, and for some people it would be a disaster. I mean, I can't really recommend what I do for others, because everyone has a different nature. And that goes for piano playing."

Shura Cherkassky was born in Odessa on Oct. 7, 1911. He was given his first piano lessons by his mother, and newspaper articles report extravagant early successes. He is said to have composed a five-act opera when he was 8, and to have conducted an orchestra in Odessa when he was 9, all in addition to giving frequent piano recitals and being hailed as a prodigy.

When he left for New York, at the age of 11, he already had a manager to look after his affairs. His hope was to study with Sergei Rachmaninoff, then his pianistic hero. But after an audition at Rachmaninoff's home on Riverside Drive, the young pianist decided to look elsewhere.

"I'll never forget that," Mr. Cherkassky said in a 1989 interview. "I even played his G-sharp-minor Prelude, and he was very impressed. He said, 'Yes, I'll teach you, but for two years you must not give concerts.' He also wanted me to study with Rosina Lhevinne, to alter my technique. My parents and my manager and I thought we should have a second opinion, so we went to Josef Hofmann, who said, 'No, you must perform, and I will teach you.' "

"I loved Rachmaninoff," Mr. Cherkassky added, "but I don't regret the decision not to study with him. Why he wanted to change my technique has been a puzzle to me all my life."

Mr. Cherkassky studied with Hofmann at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia for about a decade, and kept up his performing career. Comparisons with his teacher were inevitable. After his American debut, in Baltimore in 1923, a reviewer for The Baltimore Sun wrote that "not since the days when Josef Hofmann was a child prodigy has an American audience been so enthralled by a stripling in knickerbockers."

Mr. Cherkassky also studied briefly with Leopold Godowsky, and although he later said that he found Godowsky too fussy, he kept some Godowsky transcriptions in his repertory all through his career.

Throughout the 1920's, Mr. Cherkassky performed regularly in New York, Baltimore and other American cities, and was regularly praised for the vitality and freshness of his readings and the flexibility of his technique. He also undertook a tour of Australia and South Africa in 1927, but did not return to Europe to perform until 1945.

After World War II, Mr. Cherkassky's career took off in Europe and hit a trough in the United States. American reviewers continued to praise his virtuosity but expressed doubts about his depth as an interpreter. He moved to France and then to London, and his visits to the United States became infrequent. A return in the early 1960's seemed promising: Abram Chasins wrote in the 1961 edition of his book "Speaking of Pianists" that Mr. Cherkassky "has complete mastery of the piano, which he handles as though he were putting the instrument through its paces. He has a beautiful tone and commands every shade of color, every variety of touch and texture."

But the Romantic style in which Mr. Cherkassky excelled had fallen out of favor with American audiences, which had come to prefer a less overtly emotional, more literalist and intellectual performing style. That preference persisted through the 1970's, and when Mr. Cherkassky returned to New York in 1976 after a decade's absence, he was still regarded as an anachronism by all but a small circle of connoisseurs.

As Romanticism came back into favor in the 1980's, however, Mr. Cherkassky became something of a cult figure. His return was helped, unquestionably, by a series of recordings he made for Nimbus, an unconventional British company that allows its artists considerable leeway. Earlier in his career, Mr. Cherkassky had said that he disliked recordings because they were "too coldblooded." And indeed, a few earlier recordings lacked the fire of his live performances. But through the 1980's his recordings were plentiful, and included accounts of the Bach-Busoni Chaconne, Three Scenes from Stravinsky's "Petrouchka," the Liszt Sonata and disks devoted to Chopin and Schumann.

"At Nimbus," he said, explaining his return to recording, "they make you feel at home. You go to their castle in Wales, you stay for a few days, you walk in the park and you record when you want to. There are no red and green lights, no formal studio. They let you play as if it's a concert, and they don't make you start over whenever anything goes wrong."

Nevertheless, Mr. Cherkassky left Nimbus in 1990 when the larger Decca/London company agreed to record his concerts and to release archival performances recorded by the BBC. Decca/London released a recording of Mr. Cherkassky's 80th-birthday concert at Carnegie Hall, in 1991, as well as a set drawn from two 1975 recitals recorded in London.

Offstage, Mr. Cherkassky was a superb raconteur, and when he was in New York he held court for visiting journalists and musicians at his suite in the Hotel Pierre. He had a way of proving a point by seeming to deny that it had any validity.

"I'm a little tired of being called 'the last Romantic,' " he told one interviewer, and then went on to describe himself in entirely Romantic terms. "I just play the way I want to. And that can change from one night to the next.

Mr. Cherkassky never gave up performing, and was to tour Japan in February.

No immediate family members survive.

First published at The New York Times, December 29, 1995

Dean Martin dead at age 78. Comic crooner found success on film, stage, TV

Photo courtesy A Trip Down memory Lane

Dean Martin, the easygoing, highball-sipping crooner who left the hit comedy team of Martin and Lewis to become a member of Hollywood's Rat Pack and the star of his own TV variety show, died Monday at 78.

The singer died of acute respiratory failure at his Beverly Hills home, said his longtime agent and friend, Mort Viner.

Martin and Jerry Lewis were top stars in movies, television and nightclubs when Martin broke up the act in 1956. The smart money figured Lewis would prosper while Martin would fade.

But the dark-haired, handsome Martin became a much bigger star than he had been as straight man and singer, beginning with the 1958 war drama ``The Young Lions,'' which also starred Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando.

With stardom came membership in the Rat Pack, the Hollywood boys club that included Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford, with John F. Kennedy, Lawford's brother-in-law, an honorary member.

``Dean was my brother - not through blood, but through choice,'' Sinatra, 80, said Monday in a statement. ``Good times and bad, we were there for each other. Our friendship has traveled down many roads over the years, and there will always be a special place in my heart and soul for Dean.

``He has been like the air I breathe - always there, always close by.''

Among Martin's other movies: ``Some Came Running,'' ``Rio Bravo,'' ``Who Was that Lady?'' ``Sergeants 3,'' ``Toys in the Attic,'' ``Kiss Me Stupid,'' ``The Bells Are Ringing,'' ``The Sons of Katie Elder,'' ``The Silencers,'' ``Texas Across the River,'' ``Murderer's Row'' and ``Airport.''

He once cited the two greatest turning points in his career: ``First, meeting Jerry Lewis. Second, leaving Jerry Lewis. I became a real actor because of those two things.''

His smooth baritone on such songs as ``That's Amore'' and ``Volare'' made him a favorite with record-buyers. He was one of the few nonrockers to top the charts in 1964, when his ``Everybody Loves Somebody'' hit No.1.

He described his singing style with typical humor: ``I copied Bing Crosby 100 percent.''

Then he conquered television. In 1965, NBC first presented ``The Dean Martin Show,'' a musical variety hour through which Martin ambled with customary ease, often pretending to be soused.

The spontaneous appearance of the show was for real. Martin's contract stipulated that he would appear only on the day of the show and then have the most rudimentary of rehearsals.

``The Dean Martin Show'' was highly rated for most of its eight years. It was followed by ``The Dean Martin Comedy Hour'' in the 1973-74 season and then a series of celebrity ``roasts.''

More recently, a 1992 book by Nick Tosches, ``Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams,'' portrayed Martin as an ailing alcoholic who dined out alone every night.

Viner, his manager, countered: ``He loves to go out to restaurants. What he doesn't like is to be with a lot of people or attend parties.

``As far as his health is concerned, Dean is perfectly capable; his mind is all right. He simply decided last year that he didn't want to work for a while.''

Dino Paul Crocetti was born June 17, 1917, in Steubenville, Ohio, the son of an Italian immigrant barber. For the first five years of his life, the boy spoke only Italian.

Martin worked in the steel mills, fought as a welterweight and, at 16, delivered bootleg liquor around Steubenville. He also dealt cards in a gambling room behind a cigar store and began singing in clubs.

A band leader named Sammy Watkins hired the young singer and renamed him Dean Martin. He eventually was booked into New York, where his loose, mellow style began to catch on.

In 1946, Martin was booked into the 500 Club in Atlantic City, N.J., at $500 a week. Sharing the bill was a so-so comedian named Jerry Lewis who did a ``record act'' - mouthing the lyrics to records by famous singers.

``We started horsing around with each other's act,'' Martin recalled. ``We'd do anything that came to our minds, anything at all.''

The zaniness caught on, and soon Martin and Lewis were playing New York's Copacabana at $5,000 a week. Nightclub and television offers followed, along with a movie contract.

Lewis, 69, was reached in Seattle on Monday and told of Martin's death.

He was ``completely shattered and grief-stricken,'' said Lewis' manager, Joe Stabile.

They starred in a string of comedies, including ``At War With the Army,'' ``That's My Boy,'' ``Sailor Beware,'' ``Jumping Jacks,'' ``The Stooge,'' ``Scared Stiff,'' ``Artists and Models'' and ``Pardners.''

By the time of their last film, ``Hollywood or Bust'' in 1956, the two were quarreling in print. Martin quit the act.

``I was doing nothing and I was eating my heart out,'' he said. ``I sang a song and never got to finish it. The camera would switch to Jerry doing funny things. Everything was Jerry Lewis, Jerry Lewis, and I was the straight man.''

The two feuded for years, but Lewis surprised Martin at his 72nd birthday party in Las Vegas in 1989.

``Why we ever broke up I'll never know,'' Lewis said.

Martin replied: ``I love you, and I mean it.''

Lewis, 69, was reached in Seattle on Monday and told of Martin's death.

He was ``completely shattered and grief-stricken,'' said Lewis' manager, Joe Stabile.

In the 1970s and '80s, as Martin's film and television careers waned, he continued to be a top attraction in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and other high-roller venues. Onstage, he often sipped from a highball glass, adding to his long reputation as a boozer.

``I always watch Dean Martin's show,'' James Stewart once remarked, ``just to see if he falls down.''

Sinatra and other intimates claimed that Martin's drinking was exaggerated for joke purposes. Martin himself said he never drank to excess: ``I never get drunk because I can't face the consequences. I don't like to be sick.''

After a lifetime of good health, Martin ran into troubles in his 70s. In 1988, he dropped out of a tour with Sinatra and Davis because of a kidney condition. In 1991, he canceled an Atlantic City engagement because of what was described as intestinal flu.

Martin married three times. In 1940, he married Betty McDonald; they divorced after nine years and four children. His second marriage, to Jeanne Riegger, lasted 23 years before it ended in divorce. Among their three children was Dean Paul ``Dino'' Martin, member of a '60s teen pop group - Dino, Desi and Billy - and later an actor (``Players''). Young Martin was killed in a National Guard jet crash in 1987.

In 1973, Martin, then 55, married former model Catherine Mae Hawn, 25. His instructions for the champagne reception: ``I gave orders that no glass should ever get lower than half-empty.’”

Published by Roanoke Times, December 26, 1995

Review: 3rd Subscription Series, KOEHNE, BRAHMS AND MENDELSSOHN. Canberra Symphony Orchestra conducted by Werner Andreas Albert

Canberra Symphony 

Orchestra

Charmian Gadd - violin

David Pereira - cello

Werner Andreas Albert - conductor

Llewellyn Hall

Canberra School of Music

September 7th 1995

Reviewed by Tony Magee

Canberra Symphony Orchestra under the direction of guest conductor Werner Andreas Albert presented a fine concert at the Thursday night performance of the Third Subscription Series for 1995.

As for the second series, the audience was treated to a suite as an opener rather than the traditional overture - and an interesting and excellently played work it was too - Graeme Koehne's Once Around The Sun, adapted from the score for the ballet of the same name.

A soulful, mournful, solitary clarinet opened this piece - just wafting through the huge expanse of Llewellyn Hall - slowly being befriended by others around it - strings silkenly oozing their way into the musical picture. At times it was a luscious sound and at others we were returned to the original plaintive mood. This was a very evocative work, played accordingly.

Brahms' Concerto in A Minor for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, Op 102 followed. It gave me a little glowing feeling inside when I read that the violinist in the 1950 performance of this work with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Eugene Goosens was Ernest Llewellyn.

The most obvious thing that I would say in favour of this performance was the excellent way in which the two soloists - Charmian Gadd, violin and David Pereira, cello - worked together: passing lines between each other with grace and style and balancing harmonies beautifully.

Occasionally, I felt that the orchestra/soloist balance went slightly against the cello, however this is also perhaps an inherent problem in the construction of the concerto as much as anything else, and one that Brahms himself restled with considerably when drafting the work.

Also occasionally, I felt the intonation of the orchestra as a whole drifted, however these were only minor blemishes in an otherwise enjoyable performance, with notably excellent playing from the wind section throughout.

My second encounter with Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony (No 4) in as many days concluded this concert (I picked it up on the way home from Sydney the night before on ABC FM). What a delightful happy work this is and what an excellent performance it was given by our orchestra. 

This, more than the other works on the program, portrayed the influence of the conductor - brisk tempos and confident playing with greater conviction. The wind section made an outstanding contribution to this symphony with very tight ensemble playing, a large amount of very quiet but very fast tonguing and perfectly executed solos and duet passages. The strings also played extremely well - fast and lively, and the horns exuded a mellifluous ensemble sound.

Overall, a most enjoyable concert.

Originally published in Muse Arts Monthly (Canberra), October 1995

Eva Gabor dies at 74. She was 'Green Acres' star

Eva Gabor. Photo courtesy Disney Fanon

Eva Gabor, the youngest of the glamorous sisters from Hungary, who was best known for her role in the television series ``Green Acres,'' died Tuesday of complications from pneumonia. She was 74.

Gabor had been admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on June 21 after breaking her hip while traveling in Mexico, said Ron Wise, a hospital spokesman. She was found to be suffering from a serious case of pneumonia, Wise said, and died from related respiratory failure.

``It was a big shock, because Eva has been one of those people who had boundless energy and strength - a zest for living,'' said Kevin Sasaki, Gabor's publicist. ``She traveled, did charity work. She kept herself busy, always juggling eight plates at a time.''

Most recently, the platinum-haired actress had devoted herself to promoting Eva Gabor International, the world's largest wig maker, where she was chairwoman of the board. Sasaki said Gabor's recent appearances on the Home Shopping Network had broken sales records. One of her best-selling wigs was a mop of golden curls inspired by Gabor herself.

Described as the most down-to-earth of the Gabor sisters, Eva nevertheless had a lot in common with her many-times-married siblings, Zsa Zsa and Magda. Eva was married and divorced at least four times.

The sisters all were entertainers. And they all possessed the unmistakably breezy Gabor style. Once, for example, when introduced to then-President Johnson, Eva Gabor greeted him in her trademark Hungarian accent: ``Hello, Mr. President, darling.''

Born in Budapest, Eva Gabor aspired to acting from the age of 4.

Gabor spoke only broken English when she moved to California in 1939, but she signed with Paramount Pictures not long after her arrival. The studio gave her acting lessons and soon made her a leading lady in a hastily produced 1941 film called ``Forced Landing.'' Gabor later would call the movie ``a B picture only to those too lazy to go down the alphabet.''

As Gabor struggled to win better acting roles, the rest of her family immigrated to the United States. By the 1950s, they would become a show business phenomenon.

Gabor's motion picture credits include ``The Last Time I Saw Paris,'' ``Don't Go Near the Water,'' and ``Gigi.''

But the role of her career, she once said, was Lisa Douglas, the dizzy wife of a pompous city-slicker in the television barnyard farce ``Green Acres.''

Conceived of as a mirror image of ``The Beverly Hillbillies,'' in which country folk move to the city, the CBS series poked fun at a couple of New York socialites-turned-farmers who move to a town called Hooterville. Gabor, always elegantly dressed and coiffed, co-starred with Eddie Albert and a pig named Arnold.

The series, which aired from 1965-71, gave Gabor a claim to fame independent of her family. While some reviewers reviled it as silly fluff, Gabor said the show represented ``the best six years of my life. I adored every minute of it.''

In a 1988 interview, Gabor explained that she got into the wig business because her work in the theater made her appreciate the merits of a good, lightweight hairpiece.

``They used to be ghastly,'' she explained. ``They used to weigh tons.''

Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor were often mistaken for one another, although the older sister's legal troubles, including a publicized run-in with a police officer, gave her the more colorful reputation.

Gabor is survived by her two sisters Zsa Zsa and Magda, her mother Jolie and six stepchildren.

First published at The Roanoke Times, July 5, 1995.

Tempo Canberra Headliners

April 30, 1995

Toni big hit!

 Wednesday 26th April 1995

Photo: Robert Roach

AN enthralled first night audience delighted to the artistry of one of Australia’s most accomplished leading ladies, Toni Lamond, when she premiered her new act, “Woman On The Move”, at the School of Arts Cafe last night.

Toni, returning to the cafe after a triumphant tour of Australia with Pirates of Penzance, astonished her audience with an outstanding performance of carefully selected songs and special material - some familiar, others rather rarer - which displayed to perfection the theatrical skills which have made her a legend in the entrainment industry.

Photo: Robert Roach

Well known for her skills as a comedienne, Toni also demonstrated not only her superb singing voice, but in a series of testing theatre songs, her mastery of deftly manipulating her audience through the whole gamut of emotions from laughter to tears and back again.

Her skilfully modulated performance was wonderfully enhanced by the skills of Canberra pianist, Tony Magee, who provided sensitive and imaginative accompaniments for the outstanding program.

Toni Lamond will present four more performances of “Woman On The Move” from tonight until Saturday.

First published in The Queanbeyan Age, April 26, 1995

Toni Lamond unites with Tony Magee in cabaret

 Monday 24th April 1995

THEATRE

Fresh from her triumphant Australian tour in the smash hit production of Pirates of Penzance, music theatre great Toni Lamond will unveil her brand-new one-woman musical cabaret, Woman on the Move, at the School of Arts Cafe, Queanbeyan, tomorrow. It will continue until Saturday at 7pm. She will be accompanied by an outstanding pianist, Tony Magee, who appears regularly at the cafe.

Originally published in The Canberra Times, April 24, 1995

Burl Ives, the Folk Singer Whose Imposing Acting Won an Oscar, dies at 85

Burl Ives. Photo courtesy IMDb

Burl Ives, whose sweet, strong, mournful way with folk ballads made him an international singing star in the 1940's and whose earthy acting won him an Academy Award in the 1950's, died yesterday at his home in Anacortes, Wash. He was 85.

The cause was complications of mouth cancer, said Marjorie Schicktanz Ashley, his agent and friend.

In his long and diverse career in show business, Mr. Ives made 32 movies and more than 100 record albums, appeared in 13 Broadway productions, and gave countless performances on radio and television and in summer stock. He put an enduring stamp on "The Blue Tail Fly," "Jimmy Crack Corn" and other folk standards as well as on such children's songs as "Frosty the Snowman" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." His last recording, "The Magic Balladeer," was issued in 1993, shortly before his 84th birthday.

The bearded Mr. Ives, who loved to cook, eat and drink, was an imposing figure in his prime, carrying more than 300 pounds on his six-foot frame. He was intimidating when he played semi-professional football in Terre Haute, Ind., and he was intimidating onstage. His presence, both physically and musically, was such that Carl Sandburg, one of his great admirers, called him "America's mightiest ballad singer."

He won praise for his originality and his ability to keep his singing fresh over the years, even when he performed such well-worn folk standards as "Big Rock Candy Mountain."

He was also admired for his acting, particularly for his memorable portrayal of Big Daddy in Tennessee Williams's 1955 play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" on Broadway and in the film version in 1958. Lumbering about the stage as he angrily puffed on a cigar and snarled about the "mendacity" of those around him, Mr. Ives gave a vivid, larger-than-life performance that had critics and audiences cheering. And his skillful work as Gregory Peck's business rival in the 1958 film "The Big Country" brought him an Academy Award for best performance in a supporting role.

"I was typecast a bit," Mr. Ives said much later, "and not everyone thought I could act. But that didn't matter to me because I always saw myself as an entertainer. The movies, plays, music, it's all entertainment of one kind or another."

His role as an entertainer started early. Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was born in Jasper County, Ill., the youngest of six children. Most of his ancestors had been farmers in Illinois or Kentucky, and one or two were preachers. Whatever they were, they liked to sing, and Mr. Ives said he could not remember a time when he didn't sing. "There wasn't any beginning," he said.

When he was 4, he began performing in public and was paid 25 cents. His parents, Frank and Cordella White Ives, were hardly in a position to refuse money that anyone wanted to give to their son; their circumstances were at best modest.

As a boy, he was taught hundreds of American ballads of Scottish, English and Irish origin by his grandmother Kate White, a vigorous woman who smoked a clay pipe and chewed tobacco. He waited on tables to pay for his meals, and he played his banjo and sang at the Rotary Club in nearby Robinson, Ill. For a time, he said, he wanted to be a minister. But he found he liked singing and dancing too much, and besides, he said, he "never did take to studies."

He did take to football, and was fullback on the Newton High School squad. He thought he might become a football coach and had that in mind in 1927 when he entered Eastern Illinois State Teachers College. He left college three years later without a degree because he had decided he would rather hitchhike around the country and try to support himself by singing, playing banjo and doing odd jobs. He called himself Burl Ives, the Vagabond Lover, and visited 46 of what were then the 48 states.

In 1931, when he was living in Terre Haute, he took singing lessons from Clara Bloomfield Lyon, who encouraged him to study music and literature seriously. He decided to leave Terre Haute and move to New York City to get more training in music. He rented a room at the International House on Riverside Drive for $5 a week and tried to get work, but agents told him they did not need a "hillbilly act." That was especially offensive to Mr. Ives, who detested hillbilly music. He always thought it was "synthetic" because "it's written in New York by guys who never saw a hill."

He nevertheless remained in New York, and in 1938, when he was 29, he won his first professional roles with a theatrical group in Carmel, N.Y. He did well there, and won a small, non-singing part in "The Boys From Syracuse," the Rodgers and Hart musical, playing a tailor's apprentice.

Rodgers and Hart encouraged him to remain in show business; they approved his appearance in the road company of "I Married an Angel," which toured the nation that same year. He also won good notices during a four-month engagement at the Village Vanguard. By 1940, he had his own radio show, "The Wayfarin' Stranger."

In 1942 he was drafted, and appeared in Irving Berlin's production of "This Is the Army." A year later, he was discharged for medical reasons but continued to entertain troops. Toward the end of 1944, he landed a part in another Broadway show, "Sing Out, Sweet Land," with a book by Walter Kerr. The show was not a success, but Mr. Ives was favorably reviewed.

Mr. Ives's first movie was "Smoky" (1945), in which he played a singing cowboy. That same year, he made his concert debut at Town Hall in New York City. He began writing his own tunes and published an autobiography of his early years, titled "Wayfarin' Stranger," in 1948.

He appeared on Broadway in "She Stoops to Conquer" in 1949 and in a revival of "Show Boat" in 1954. He also published two collections of folk ballads, "The Burl Ives Songbook" (1953) and "Tales of America" (1954).

Mr. Ives's following grew appreciably with "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Among his other film credits are "Desire Under the Elms" (1958), "Our Man in Havana" (1960), "Robin and the Seven Hoods" (1964) and "Earthbound" (1981). Over the years he also appeared in repertory productions of "The Man Who Came To Dinner" and "Knickerbocker Holiday," among others.

On television, he narrated the 1964 production of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." He appeared in the mini-series "Roots" in 1977 and in "The Lawyers" segments of "The Bold Ones" series, which ran from 1969 to 1972.

Among his albums are "Songs of Ireland," "Australian Folk Songs," "Christmas Eve With Burl Ives," "Songs of the West," "The Best of Burl's for Boys and Girls," "Burl Ives Sings Pearly Shells and Other Favorites," "Songs I Sang in Sunday School" and "Burl Ives's Folk Lullabies."

He was also closely identified with the song "Rodger Young," which Frank Loesser wrote in 1945 as a tribute to the United States Infantry.

Mr. Ives's 1945 marriage to Helen Peck Ehrlich ended in divorce. He is survived by his second wife, Dorothy; a son, Alexander, from his first marriage; two stepsons, Kevin Murphy and Robbie Grossman, both of Anacortes; a stepdaughter, Barbara Vaughn of Camarillo, Calif., and five grandchildren. A Santa Figure Of Many Talents

Burl Ives was a memorable presence, whether singing companionably as he strummed folk tunes on his guitar or giving dramatic life to a stage or movie role. Here are some of the songs, shows and films associated with his long career. Songs Blue Tail Fly Wayfarin' Stranger Big Rock Candy Mountain Goober Peas My Gal Sal Holly Jolly Christmas Little White Duck I Know an Old Lady (Who Swallowed a Fly) A Little Bitty Tear Foggy Foggy Dew Frosty the Snowman Musicals and Plays The Boys from Syracuse, 1938 This Is the Army, 1942 Sing Out, Sweet Land, 1944 Show Boat, 1954 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1955 Dr. Cook's Garden, 1967 Films East of Eden, 1955 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1958 Desire Under the Elms, 1958 The Big Country, 1958 Our Man in Havana, 1960 Summer Magic, 1963 Ensign Pulver, 1964 The Bermuda Depths, 1978 Earthbound, 1980 Television Series High-Low, 1957 The Lawyers, 1969-72 O.K. Crackerby, 1965-66.

About the archive

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First published at The New York Times, April 15, 1995

Lamond is on the move with new show

Toni Lamond. Photo courtesy Australian Arts Review

FRESH from her triumphant Australian tour in the smash hit musical production Pirates of Penzance, music theatre great Toni Lamond will unveil her brand new one-woman musical cabaret, Woman on the Move at the School of Arts Cafe in Queanbeyan on April 25.

Accompanied by well-known Canberra pianist Tony Magee, Woman on the Move runs from April 25 until April 29.

This will be Toni Lamond’s second show at the School of Arts Cafe after her auto-biographical cabaret A Life on The Stage in 1994, which later became a CD Toni Lamond at The School of Arts Cafe.

Bookings ($45 including three-course dinner) can be made by calling in at the cafe or ringing 297 6857.

First published at The Chronicle, April 1, 1995