Andy Williams(1927-2012)
- Music Artist
- Producer
- Actor
The extraordinary, easy-listening crooning talents of Andy Williams
were first unveiled when he was 8 years old and inducted into the
Williams Brothers Quartet as its youngest member. Born in Wall Lake,
Iowa on December 3, 1927, Andy started singing with his three older
brothers (Bob Williams,
Dick Williams and
Don Williams) in his hometown's
Presbyterian church choir. The quartet became instant local news and
made its professional singing debut when Andy was in the third grade. A
bonafide hit, they went on to become a staple on radio in nearby big
city Des Moines. From there, the harmonizing siblings found widespread
popularity on wartime radio, including Chicago and Cincinnati. Andy
graduated from high school in Cincinnati. They eventually caught the
attention of crooning king Bing Crosby, who
included the boys on his mammoth 1944 hit single "Swinging on a Star".
Bing, of course, was keen on the boys' combined talents, having his own
singing quartet of sons at home. Speciality film appearances in
musicals were also a rage and the boys appeared in such film fare as
Janie (1944),
Kansas City Kitty (1944),
Something in the Wind (1947)
and Ladies' Man (1947). They then
joined singer/personality
Kay Thompson in 1947 with her
eclectic nightclub act and stayed with the popular show until they
disbanded in 1951. Andy was the only Williams brother who ventured out
to the East Coast to seek a solo singing career.
His career received a major boost when he co-starred with Chico Marx on the short lived television show called The College Bowl (1950 - 1951). On the show he acted, sang, and danced along with others. The show lasted for 26 weeks. After College Bowl was cancelled Andy Williams was offered regular singing
duties on Steve Allen's
The Tonight Show (1953) show, which led to
Andy's first recording contract with Cadence Records in 1956 and his
first album. A "Top 10" hit came with the lovely ballad "Canadian
Sunset". This, in turn, was followed by "Butterfly" (#1), "Lonely
Street", "I Like Your Kind of Love", "Are You Sincere" and "The
Hawaiian Wedding Song", the last tune earning him five Grammy Award
nominations. An ingratiating presence on television, he was handed a
musical show co-hosting with June Valli and a
summer replacement series of his own. In the meantime, he developed
into a top nightclub favorite.
In 1962, Andy made a lucrative label change to Columbia Records, which
produced the "Top 10" pop hit "Can't Get Use to Losing You" and a
collaboration with Henry Mancini, which
inspired Andy's signature song, "Moon River," the Oscar-winning tune
from the popular Audrey Hepburn
film
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).
Andy had the honor of singing the song during the Oscar ceremony. Other
major chartbusters for Andy came with the movie theme songs
Days of Wine and Roses (1962),
Dear Heart (1964) and
Love Story (1970).
An attempt to parlay his singing fame into a film career was one of
Andy's few missteps in a hugely successful career. He co-starred in the
light, screwy Ross Hunter comedy
soufflé
I'd Rather Be Rich (1964)
starring Sandra Dee and enjoyably
squared off with fellow singing suitor
Robert Goulet. Andy and Robert also sang
in the picture (including sharing the title song), which was a tepid
remake of
It Started with Eve (1941)
starring Deanna Durbin. It was an
artificial role to be sure and is only significant in that it was
Andy's sole legit acting experience on film.
What truly put Andy over the top was the phenomenal success of his
weekly variety show
The Andy Williams Show (1962).
Andy was a natural in front of the television camera and his dueting
with such singing legends as
Ella Fitzgerald,
Judy Garland and
Peggy Lee kept audiences enthralled
week after week. What goes around comes around for Andy would often
invite his brothers to sing with him and also introduced another
talented harmonizing boy group--the seven "Osmond Brothers". The
series, which concluded in 1971, won three Emmy Awards for "Best
Musical/Variety Series". Andy himself picked up a couple of nominations
as performer.
In 1961, Andy married a stunning, whispery-voiced French chanteuse
named Claudine Longet (born in Paris in
1942), who was 15 years younger. The couple had three children. She
made a mild hit of the song "Love Is Blue" and enjoyed slight celebrity
status. Like the Crosby family, Andy's clan became an integral part of
his annual classic Christmas television specials. Despite the fact that
the couple separated in 1969, Claudine continued to appear in these
specials in the early 1970s.
In tandem with his famous television show, Andy opened Caesar's Palace
in 1966 and went on to headline there for 20 years. Following the
demise of his television success, Andy continued to tour both here and
abroad. He laid low for a time to protect his children through a tragic
crisis when his ex-wife Claudine (since 1975) became enmeshed in a
tabloid-styled shooting in March of 1976. The 1970s also deemed the
cardigan-wearing Andy as too square and clean-cut to prod younger
audiences. Nevertheless, he hosted the Grammy Awards a few times and
returned to a syndicated series format in 1976, which was short-lived.
Andy remarried happily in 1991 to non-professional Debbie Haas.
Inspired by singer/friend
Ray Stevens, Andy had built a $12
million state-of-the-art theater, which opened in 1992 and was
christened the Andy Williams Moon River Theater. Andy became the first
non-country star to perform there and other theme shows have since been
inspired to populate the small town--now considered the live music
capital of the world. At age 70+, he continued to perform in Branson,
Missouri, where he and his wife reside, and in Europe. Andy Williams
died at age 84 of bladder cancer in Branson, Missouri on September 25,
2012.
were first unveiled when he was 8 years old and inducted into the
Williams Brothers Quartet as its youngest member. Born in Wall Lake,
Iowa on December 3, 1927, Andy started singing with his three older
brothers (Bob Williams,
Dick Williams and
Don Williams) in his hometown's
Presbyterian church choir. The quartet became instant local news and
made its professional singing debut when Andy was in the third grade. A
bonafide hit, they went on to become a staple on radio in nearby big
city Des Moines. From there, the harmonizing siblings found widespread
popularity on wartime radio, including Chicago and Cincinnati. Andy
graduated from high school in Cincinnati. They eventually caught the
attention of crooning king Bing Crosby, who
included the boys on his mammoth 1944 hit single "Swinging on a Star".
Bing, of course, was keen on the boys' combined talents, having his own
singing quartet of sons at home. Speciality film appearances in
musicals were also a rage and the boys appeared in such film fare as
Janie (1944),
Kansas City Kitty (1944),
Something in the Wind (1947)
and Ladies' Man (1947). They then
joined singer/personality
Kay Thompson in 1947 with her
eclectic nightclub act and stayed with the popular show until they
disbanded in 1951. Andy was the only Williams brother who ventured out
to the East Coast to seek a solo singing career.
His career received a major boost when he co-starred with Chico Marx on the short lived television show called The College Bowl (1950 - 1951). On the show he acted, sang, and danced along with others. The show lasted for 26 weeks. After College Bowl was cancelled Andy Williams was offered regular singing
duties on Steve Allen's
The Tonight Show (1953) show, which led to
Andy's first recording contract with Cadence Records in 1956 and his
first album. A "Top 10" hit came with the lovely ballad "Canadian
Sunset". This, in turn, was followed by "Butterfly" (#1), "Lonely
Street", "I Like Your Kind of Love", "Are You Sincere" and "The
Hawaiian Wedding Song", the last tune earning him five Grammy Award
nominations. An ingratiating presence on television, he was handed a
musical show co-hosting with June Valli and a
summer replacement series of his own. In the meantime, he developed
into a top nightclub favorite.
In 1962, Andy made a lucrative label change to Columbia Records, which
produced the "Top 10" pop hit "Can't Get Use to Losing You" and a
collaboration with Henry Mancini, which
inspired Andy's signature song, "Moon River," the Oscar-winning tune
from the popular Audrey Hepburn
film
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).
Andy had the honor of singing the song during the Oscar ceremony. Other
major chartbusters for Andy came with the movie theme songs
Days of Wine and Roses (1962),
Dear Heart (1964) and
Love Story (1970).
An attempt to parlay his singing fame into a film career was one of
Andy's few missteps in a hugely successful career. He co-starred in the
light, screwy Ross Hunter comedy
soufflé
I'd Rather Be Rich (1964)
starring Sandra Dee and enjoyably
squared off with fellow singing suitor
Robert Goulet. Andy and Robert also sang
in the picture (including sharing the title song), which was a tepid
remake of
It Started with Eve (1941)
starring Deanna Durbin. It was an
artificial role to be sure and is only significant in that it was
Andy's sole legit acting experience on film.
What truly put Andy over the top was the phenomenal success of his
weekly variety show
The Andy Williams Show (1962).
Andy was a natural in front of the television camera and his dueting
with such singing legends as
Ella Fitzgerald,
Judy Garland and
Peggy Lee kept audiences enthralled
week after week. What goes around comes around for Andy would often
invite his brothers to sing with him and also introduced another
talented harmonizing boy group--the seven "Osmond Brothers". The
series, which concluded in 1971, won three Emmy Awards for "Best
Musical/Variety Series". Andy himself picked up a couple of nominations
as performer.
In 1961, Andy married a stunning, whispery-voiced French chanteuse
named Claudine Longet (born in Paris in
1942), who was 15 years younger. The couple had three children. She
made a mild hit of the song "Love Is Blue" and enjoyed slight celebrity
status. Like the Crosby family, Andy's clan became an integral part of
his annual classic Christmas television specials. Despite the fact that
the couple separated in 1969, Claudine continued to appear in these
specials in the early 1970s.
In tandem with his famous television show, Andy opened Caesar's Palace
in 1966 and went on to headline there for 20 years. Following the
demise of his television success, Andy continued to tour both here and
abroad. He laid low for a time to protect his children through a tragic
crisis when his ex-wife Claudine (since 1975) became enmeshed in a
tabloid-styled shooting in March of 1976. The 1970s also deemed the
cardigan-wearing Andy as too square and clean-cut to prod younger
audiences. Nevertheless, he hosted the Grammy Awards a few times and
returned to a syndicated series format in 1976, which was short-lived.
Andy remarried happily in 1991 to non-professional Debbie Haas.
Inspired by singer/friend
Ray Stevens, Andy had built a $12
million state-of-the-art theater, which opened in 1992 and was
christened the Andy Williams Moon River Theater. Andy became the first
non-country star to perform there and other theme shows have since been
inspired to populate the small town--now considered the live music
capital of the world. At age 70+, he continued to perform in Branson,
Missouri, where he and his wife reside, and in Europe. Andy Williams
died at age 84 of bladder cancer in Branson, Missouri on September 25,
2012.