Kathleen Howard
Encyclopedia
Kathleen Howard was a Canadian
-born opera singer (mezzo-soprano), magazine editor and US
film character actress from the mid-1930s through the 1940s. She spent her childhood in Buffalo, NY and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery
there.
She created the role of Zita in Giacomo Puccini
's Gianni Schicchi
at the Metropolitan Opera
in 1918. She was also particularly memorable as the nagging, shrewish wife of W.C. Fields in a film that many historians consider to be his best and funniest, It's a Gift
(1934); she additionally appeared in two other films of W.C. Fields: You're Telling Me!
(1934) and Man on the Flying Trapeze
(1935) (playing his wife for a second time in the latter).
She was part of the repertory system in the opera houses of Metz and Darmstadt previous to World War I.
She told of her life as an opera singer in an autobiography, Confessions of an Opera Singer (Knopf 1918).
Howard appears to have not made as many opera recordings for companies of the acoustical era such as did her contemporaries Geraldine Farrar
and Mary Garden
; her few recordings were vertical-cut discs made for the American branch of Pathé Frères in 1918 which received limited distribution. Among them are Harry Burleigh
's arrangement of the spiritual "Deep River," arias from Charles Gounod
's Faust
and Giuseppe Verdi
's Il Trovatore
(in English), and the "Barcarolle" from Jacques Offenbach
's Les contes d'Hoffmann
with Claudia Muzio
(in French). Her voice however survives in the many Hollywood comedies she made throughout the 1930s and 1940s. As with many stage-trained actors of that era, such as Margaret Dumont
, Howard projected well and spoke with precise diction and a trilled "r".
In 2009 she received The Al Boasberg Comedy Award, named after Al Boasberg
(also from Buffalo, NY), in honor of her many comedy roles in motion pictures.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-born opera singer (mezzo-soprano), magazine editor and US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film character actress from the mid-1930s through the 1940s. She spent her childhood in Buffalo, NY and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery
Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo
Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York was founded in 1849 by Charles E. Clark. It covers over 250 acres and over 152,000 are buried there. Notable graves include U.S. President Millard Fillmore, singer Rick James, and inventor Lawrence Dale Bell...
there.
She created the role of Zita in Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's Gianni Schicchi
Gianni Schicchi
Gianni Schicchi is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy. The work is the third and final part of Puccini's Il trittico —three one-act operas with...
at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in 1918. She was also particularly memorable as the nagging, shrewish wife of W.C. Fields in a film that many historians consider to be his best and funniest, It's a Gift
It's a Gift
It's a Gift is a 1934 comedy film starring W. C. Fields, considered by film historians to be one of Fields' best and funniest films.It concerns the trials and tribulations of a grocery store owner as he battles a shrewish wife, an incompetent assistant, and assorted annoying children, customers,...
(1934); she additionally appeared in two other films of W.C. Fields: You're Telling Me!
You're Telling Me!
You’re Telling Me! is a 1934 comedy film released by Paramount Pictures, and starring W. C. Fields; this film is a remake of his earlier silent film So's Your Old Man , and both films are adapted from the story Mr. Bisbee’s Princess by Julian Leonard Street.-Synopsis:Sam Bisbee is an optometrist...
(1934) and Man on the Flying Trapeze
Man on the Flying Trapeze
Man on the Flying Trapeze is a 1935 comedy film starring W. C. Fields as a henpecked husband. As with his other roles of this nature, Fields is put-upon throughout the film, but triumphs in the end.-Plot:...
(1935) (playing his wife for a second time in the latter).
She was part of the repertory system in the opera houses of Metz and Darmstadt previous to World War I.
She told of her life as an opera singer in an autobiography, Confessions of an Opera Singer (Knopf 1918).
Howard appears to have not made as many opera recordings for companies of the acoustical era such as did her contemporaries Geraldine Farrar
Geraldine Farrar
Geraldine Farrar was an American soprano opera singer and film actress, noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." She had a large following among young women, who were nicknamed "Gerry-flappers".- Early life and opera career :Farrar was born in Melrose,...
and Mary Garden
Mary Garden
Mary Garden , was a Scottish operatic soprano with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century...
; her few recordings were vertical-cut discs made for the American branch of Pathé Frères in 1918 which received limited distribution. Among them are Harry Burleigh
Harry Burleigh
Henry "Harry" Thacker Burleigh , a baritone, was an African American classical composer, arranger, and professional singer...
's arrangement of the spiritual "Deep River," arias from Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
's Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
and Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Il Trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
(in English), and the "Barcarolle" from Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
's Les contes d'Hoffmann
Les contes d'Hoffmann
Les contes d'Hoffmann is an opéra by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on short stories by E. T. A...
with Claudia Muzio
Claudia Muzio
Claudia Muzio was an Italian operatic soprano, whose international career was among the most successful of the early 20th century.-Early years:...
(in French). Her voice however survives in the many Hollywood comedies she made throughout the 1930s and 1940s. As with many stage-trained actors of that era, such as Margaret Dumont
Margaret Dumont
Margaret Dumont was an American comedic actress. She is remembered mostly for being the comic foil to Groucho Marx in seven of the Marx Brothers films...
, Howard projected well and spoke with precise diction and a trilled "r".
In 2009 she received The Al Boasberg Comedy Award, named after Al Boasberg
Al Boasberg
Al Boasberg was a American comedy writer in vaudeville, radio, and film, as well as being a film director....
(also from Buffalo, NY), in honor of her many comedy roles in motion pictures.
Selected filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1934 | Death Takes a Holiday Death Takes a Holiday Death Takes a Holiday is a 1934 romantic drama starring Fredric March, Evelyn Venable and Guy Standing, based on the Italian play La Morte in Vacanze by Alberto Casella.-Synopsis:... |
Princess Maria | |
| You're Telling Me! You're Telling Me! You’re Telling Me! is a 1934 comedy film released by Paramount Pictures, and starring W. C. Fields; this film is a remake of his earlier silent film So's Your Old Man , and both films are adapted from the story Mr. Bisbee’s Princess by Julian Leonard Street.-Synopsis:Sam Bisbee is an optometrist... |
Mrs. Edward Quimby Murchison | ||
| It's a Gift It's a Gift It's a Gift is a 1934 comedy film starring W. C. Fields, considered by film historians to be one of Fields' best and funniest films.It concerns the trials and tribulations of a grocery store owner as he battles a shrewish wife, an incompetent assistant, and assorted annoying children, customers,... |
Mrs. Amelia Bissonette | Starring W.C. Fields | |
| 1935 | Man on the Flying Trapeze Man on the Flying Trapeze Man on the Flying Trapeze is a 1935 comedy film starring W. C. Fields as a henpecked husband. As with his other roles of this nature, Fields is put-upon throughout the film, but triumphs in the end.-Plot:... |
Leona Wolfinger | Alternative title: The Memory Expert |
| 1937 | Stolen Holiday | Madame Delphine | |
| 1939 | First Love First Love (1939 film) First Love is a 1939 Oscar nominated Universal musical film directed by Henry Koster. The film is a rewriting of the fairy tale Cinderella. It was released on both VHS and DVD .-Plot:... |
Miss Wiggins | |
| 1940 | Young People Young People (film) Young People is a 1940 film directed by Allan Dwan. It stars Shirley Temple and Jack Oakie.-Cast:*Shirley Temple as Wendy Ballantine*Jack Oakie as Joe Ballentine*Charlotte Greenwood as Kit Ballentine*Arleen Whelan as Judith... |
Hester Appleby | |
| 1940 | Mystery Sea Raider Mystery Sea Raider -Cast:* Carole Landis as June McCarthy* Henry Wilcoxon as Captain Jimmy Madden* Onslow Stevens as Carl Cutler* Kathleen Howard as Maggie Clancy* Wally Rairden as Blake, 3rd Mate * Sven Hugo Borg as Sven* Henry Victor as Cmdr. Bulow... |
||
| 1941 | Blossoms in the Dust Blossoms in the Dust Blossoms in the Dust is a 1941 American film which tells the story of the non-fictional Edna Gladney who takes it upon herself to help orphaned children to find homes, despite the opposition of the "good" citizens who think that illegitimate children are beneath their interest... |
Mrs. Sarah Keats | |
| Ball of Fire Ball of Fire Ball of Fire is a 1941 American romantic comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. The RKO Pictures film is about a group of professors laboring to write an encyclopedia and their encounter with a nightclub performer who provides her own unique knowledge... |
Miss Bragg | Alternative title: The Professor and the Burlesque Queen | |
| 1942 | Take a Letter, Darling Take a Letter, Darling Take a Letter, Darling is a 1942 comedy film directed by Mitchell Leisen. It was nominated for three Academy Awards; Best Cinematography, Best Score and Best Art Direction .-Cast:* Rosalind Russell - A.M... |
Aunt Minnie | Alternative title: Green-Eyed Woman |
| You Were Never Lovelier You Were Never Lovelier You Were Never Lovelier is a 1942 Hollywood musical comedy film, set in Buenos Aires. It starred Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Adolphe Menjou and Xavier Cugat, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The film was directed by William A... |
Grandmother Acuña | Uncredited | |
| 1943 | My Kingdom for a Cook | Mrs. Theodore Carter | Uncredited |
| 1944 | Laura Laura (1944 film) Laura is a 1944 American film noir directed by Otto Preminger. It stars Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews and Clifton Webb. The screenplay by Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Elizabeth Reinhardt is based on the 1943 novel of the same title by Vera Caspary.... |
Louise, Ann's Cook | Uncredited |
| 1945 | Eadie Was a Lady | Aunt Priscilla Alden | |
| 1946 | Centennial Summer Centennial Summer Centennial Summer is a 1946 film directed by Otto Preminger. The musical, that stars Jeanne Crain and Cornel Wilde, is based on a novel by Albert E. Idell.It was produced in response to the hugely successful MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis... |
Deborah | |
| 1947 | The Late George Apley The Late George Apley (film) The Late George Apley is a 1947 film about a stuffy, upper-class Bostonian who is forced to adjust to a changing world. It starred Ronald Colman in the title role and was based on John P. Marquand's novel of the same name and the subsequent play by Marquand and George S... |
Margaret, the Maid | Uncredited |
| 1948 | The Bride Goes Wild | Aunt Susan | |
| 1950 | Born to Be Bad Born to Be Bad (1950 film) Born to Be Bad is a 1950 melodrama starring Joan Fontaine as a manipulative young woman who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. It was based on the novel All Kneeling by Anne Parrish.-Cast:*Joan Fontaine as Christabel Caine Carey... |
Mrs. Bolton | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1951 | The Bigelow Theatre The Bigelow Theatre The Bigelow Theatre, also known as Bigelow-Sanford Theater, was an early American television program originally broadcast on CBS, and later on the now defunct DuMont Television Network.-Broadcast history:... |
1 episode | |
External links
- Confessions of an Opera Singer freely available at gutenberg.org in many formats.
- Kathleen Howard and Geraldine Farrar