Earl Wrightson, a singer and actor who brought his deep baritone voice and imposing stage presence to dozens of musical comedies and concerts, has died at the age of 77.
Mr. Wrightson died last Sunday of heart failure in his East Norwich home, said his singing partner since 1951, Lois Hunt, who was also his companion.
Born in Baltimore, Mr. Wrightson was the son of a Methodist minister. He left his vocal studies at a conservatory and moved to New York City to become a page for NBC for $15 a week, while studying with Robert Weede, the Metropolitan Opera baritone. Eventually, he became a regular radio performer, singing on such series as “The Prudential Family Hour” and “The Coca-Cola Hour” with the orchestra conductor Andre Kostelanetz.
For three years in the 1950s, he was the host of a CBS Sunday afternoon television show, “The American Musical Theater,” for which he won an Emmy. He was also the host of “At Home,” a 15-minute TV program that preceded “Arthur Godfrey and His Friends.” Mr. Wrightson also performed on “The Goodyear Review” with Paul Whiteman and in shows presided over by Robert Q. Lewis, Jack Paar, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas and Johnny Carson.
Mr. Wrightson starred on Broadway in 1945 in a musical version of the Edwin Justus Mayer play “Firebrand of Florence,” with music by Kurt Weill and featuring Lotte Lenya. He also starred on tour and in summer theater in “Camelot,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Paint Your Wagon,” “I Do! I Do!” “Man of La Mancha,” “South Pacific,” “Can-Can,” “Silk Stockings,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Gigi,” “A Little Night Music,” “The Sound of Music” and other shows.
In the 1960s, Mr. Wrightson and Hunt performed Broadway show tunes in concerts with symphony orchestras across the country, on stages that included Carnegie Hall’s.
Mr. Wrightson made a number of recordings, five of them with Miss Hunt, and was awarded the Handel Medallion by New York City.
His last major singing role was in “The Sound of Music” with Hunt (he played the Baron von Trapp; she played Countess Elsa Schraeder) in a 97-city, six-month tour in 1980.
In addition to Hunt, he is survived by his estranged wife, Alta Markey Wrightson; a daughter, Wendy Oldham, and a granddaughter.
