Richard Paul Kiley (March , â€" March , ) was an American stage,
television, and film actor. He is best known for his distinguished
theatrical career in which he twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor
In A Musical. Kiley created the role of Don Quixote in the original
production of the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha and was the first
to sing and record "The Impossible Dream", the hit song from the show.
In the hit musical Kismet, he played the Caliph and was one of the
quartet introducing the song "And This Is My Beloved". Additionally,
he won three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards during his -year
career and his "sonorous baritone" was also featured in the narration
of a number of documentaries and other films. At the time of his
death, Kiley was described as "one of theater's most distinguished and
versatile actors" and as "an indispensable actor, the kind of
performer who could be called on to play kings and commoners and a
diversity of characters in between."Kiley was born in Chicago,
Illinois, and raised Roman Catholic. He graduated from Mt. Carmel High
School in , and after a year at Loyola University Chicago he left to
study acting at Chicago's Barnum Dramatic School. In the late s, he
performed in Chicago-area summer stock theaters with actors such as
Alan Furlan. Following his service in the United States Navy in World
War II, he returned to Chicago working as an actor and announcer on
radio before moving to New York City. In New York he studied singing
with Ray Smolover.Kiley's work on stage included Kismet, No Strings
(which was Richard Rodgers's first stage musical after the death of
Oscar Hammerstein II) in which Rodgers wrote both music and lyrics,
the Buddy Hackett vehicle I Had a Ball, and the lead roles in Redhead,
Man of La Mancha, and the play The Incomparable Max.Kiley later
starred in the television play Patterns, which aired live on January ,
. It caused a sensation and won an Emmy for its writer, Rod Serling.
He played the role of John Malcolm Patterson, future Attorney General
of Alabama (and later Governor of Alabama), in the film The Phenix
City Story. Kiley also portrayed math teacher Joshua Edwards, whose
phonograph records were smashed by delinquents in Blackboard Jungle in
.
television, and film actor. He is best known for his distinguished
theatrical career in which he twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor
In A Musical. Kiley created the role of Don Quixote in the original
production of the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha and was the first
to sing and record "The Impossible Dream", the hit song from the show.
In the hit musical Kismet, he played the Caliph and was one of the
quartet introducing the song "And This Is My Beloved". Additionally,
he won three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards during his -year
career and his "sonorous baritone" was also featured in the narration
of a number of documentaries and other films. At the time of his
death, Kiley was described as "one of theater's most distinguished and
versatile actors" and as "an indispensable actor, the kind of
performer who could be called on to play kings and commoners and a
diversity of characters in between."Kiley was born in Chicago,
Illinois, and raised Roman Catholic. He graduated from Mt. Carmel High
School in , and after a year at Loyola University Chicago he left to
study acting at Chicago's Barnum Dramatic School. In the late s, he
performed in Chicago-area summer stock theaters with actors such as
Alan Furlan. Following his service in the United States Navy in World
War II, he returned to Chicago working as an actor and announcer on
radio before moving to New York City. In New York he studied singing
with Ray Smolover.Kiley's work on stage included Kismet, No Strings
(which was Richard Rodgers's first stage musical after the death of
Oscar Hammerstein II) in which Rodgers wrote both music and lyrics,
the Buddy Hackett vehicle I Had a Ball, and the lead roles in Redhead,
Man of La Mancha, and the play The Incomparable Max.Kiley later
starred in the television play Patterns, which aired live on January ,
. It caused a sensation and won an Emmy for its writer, Rod Serling.
He played the role of John Malcolm Patterson, future Attorney General
of Alabama (and later Governor of Alabama), in the film The Phenix
City Story. Kiley also portrayed math teacher Joshua Edwards, whose
phonograph records were smashed by delinquents in Blackboard Jungle in
.
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