Kenneth Spencer ( April â€" February ), was an American operatic
singer and actor. Spencer starred in a few Broadway musicals and
musical films in the United States during the s. Frustrated with the
racial prejudice he experienced in the United States as a black man,
Spencer moved to West Germany in where he had a successful singing
career. He also appeared in a number of German films. His career was
cut short when he died in the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight
.Spencer was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of a steel
worker. He took private vocal lessons while working as a gardener, and
eventually caught the attention of the tenor Roland Hayes who helped
him to get a scholarship at the Eastman School of Music. After
graduating in , Spencer tried to get a performing career going but met
many obstacles due to racial prejudice in the United States.In he
sang in the Federal Music Project NBC Blue radio opera Gettysburg,
first from El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, then at the Hollywood
Bowl. In he was understudy for Paul Robeson in the short lived
Broadway musical John Henry. This was followed by his professional
recital debut in at New York City's Town Hall.During the early s
Spencer made his first major successes in California as a concert
artist at the Hollywood Bowl and as a radio performer. This led to his
being cast in significant parts in two MGM films in , the musical film
Cabin in the Sky where he shared the screen with Ethel Waters, Lena
Horne, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, and Louis Armstrong, and the war
movie Bataan. Spencer also sang the ballad in A Walk in the Sun (). He
returned to Broadway to portray Joe in the critically acclaimed
revival of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat, in which he sang Ol' Man
River. The revival was highly successful, running almost exactly a
year, remarkable at the time for a revival of a play or musical. This
was the first American production of Show Boat to receive a
full-fledged Broadway cast album, rather than just a studio cast
recording (there had been a British cast album in ).[a]
singer and actor. Spencer starred in a few Broadway musicals and
musical films in the United States during the s. Frustrated with the
racial prejudice he experienced in the United States as a black man,
Spencer moved to West Germany in where he had a successful singing
career. He also appeared in a number of German films. His career was
cut short when he died in the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight
.Spencer was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of a steel
worker. He took private vocal lessons while working as a gardener, and
eventually caught the attention of the tenor Roland Hayes who helped
him to get a scholarship at the Eastman School of Music. After
graduating in , Spencer tried to get a performing career going but met
many obstacles due to racial prejudice in the United States.In he
sang in the Federal Music Project NBC Blue radio opera Gettysburg,
first from El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, then at the Hollywood
Bowl. In he was understudy for Paul Robeson in the short lived
Broadway musical John Henry. This was followed by his professional
recital debut in at New York City's Town Hall.During the early s
Spencer made his first major successes in California as a concert
artist at the Hollywood Bowl and as a radio performer. This led to his
being cast in significant parts in two MGM films in , the musical film
Cabin in the Sky where he shared the screen with Ethel Waters, Lena
Horne, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, and Louis Armstrong, and the war
movie Bataan. Spencer also sang the ballad in A Walk in the Sun (). He
returned to Broadway to portray Joe in the critically acclaimed
revival of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat, in which he sang Ol' Man
River. The revival was highly successful, running almost exactly a
year, remarkable at the time for a revival of a play or musical. This
was the first American production of Show Boat to receive a
full-fledged Broadway cast album, rather than just a studio cast
recording (there had been a British cast album in ).[a]
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.