David Brooks (September , â€" March , ) was an American actor,
singer, director, and producer who first drew critical acclamation
starring in several Broadway musicals during the s, including
portraying Tommy Albright in the original production of Brigadoon.In
the early s he was an important stage director in the avant-garde
theatre scene of Milan, Italy. He returned to the United States during
the mid-s and worked principally as a stage director and producer for
over a decade. He was instrumental in producing the United States
premieres of a number of works by Eugène Ionesco and Samuel Beckett,
and remained active as an actor up until the s.Brooks was born in
Portland, Oregon, to Jewish parents and earned a Bachelor of Music
degree from the University of Washington, where he trained as a
classical baritone. He won a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of
Music in Philadelphia, where he pursued graduate studies in opera.
While a student at Curtis he began appearing in plays and musicals in
Philadelphia which ultimately led to his being signed with a talent
agent. He made his Broadway theatre debut in as Jeff Calhoun opposite
Celeste Holm as Evalina in the original production of Harold Arlen's
Bloomer Girl. The show was a big hit and effectively launched a major
career for Brooks as a stage actor and later stage director and
producer. L.A. Times on October , , headlined "Stage Singer Brooks
Signed by Paramount." Scouts had seen him in "Bloomer Girl." Brooks
ended up making just one film, in , as a character named Angus McNab
in the Paramount musical short "Bonnie Lassie.â€
singer, director, and producer who first drew critical acclamation
starring in several Broadway musicals during the s, including
portraying Tommy Albright in the original production of Brigadoon.In
the early s he was an important stage director in the avant-garde
theatre scene of Milan, Italy. He returned to the United States during
the mid-s and worked principally as a stage director and producer for
over a decade. He was instrumental in producing the United States
premieres of a number of works by Eugène Ionesco and Samuel Beckett,
and remained active as an actor up until the s.Brooks was born in
Portland, Oregon, to Jewish parents and earned a Bachelor of Music
degree from the University of Washington, where he trained as a
classical baritone. He won a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of
Music in Philadelphia, where he pursued graduate studies in opera.
While a student at Curtis he began appearing in plays and musicals in
Philadelphia which ultimately led to his being signed with a talent
agent. He made his Broadway theatre debut in as Jeff Calhoun opposite
Celeste Holm as Evalina in the original production of Harold Arlen's
Bloomer Girl. The show was a big hit and effectively launched a major
career for Brooks as a stage actor and later stage director and
producer. L.A. Times on October , , headlined "Stage Singer Brooks
Signed by Paramount." Scouts had seen him in "Bloomer Girl." Brooks
ended up making just one film, in , as a character named Angus McNab
in the Paramount musical short "Bonnie Lassie.â€
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