Alan Mills (singer)

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Alan Mills (aka Albert Miller ; born September 7, 1912 in Lachine ; † June 14, 1977 in Montreal ) was a Canadian singer, actor and author.

Miller dropped out of Baron Byng High School in Montreal at the age of fourteen and began working as a court reporter for the Montreal Evening Journal and the Montreal Herald . Until 1945 he worked for the Montréal Gazette . In 1934 he studied song singing with Albert Wthitehead , and from 1935-36 he toured Canada and the United States with John Goss ' London Singers . After 1945 he took on smaller roles in opera productions, including Die Zauberflöte (1945) and Madama Butterfly (1947) at the Opera Guild of Montréal and in Kurt Weill's Down in the Valley at Minute Opera .

Since the late 1940s, Miller focused on folk music, in 1947 he took the stage name Alan Mills . He was successful in the CBC radio show Folk Songs for Young Folk (1947-59), in series such as The Song History of Canada and the program Songs de Chez nous with Hélène Baillargeon . His first recordings were made in 1949 at RCA Victor . With the folk song collector Edith Fowke , he produced two albums ( O Canada: A History in Song , 1956 and Songs of the Sea , 1957), song books (including Songs of the Sea ) and radio programs (including Ride with the Sun ).

Mills had his first concert appearance in Ottawa in 1949. Tours through the USA and two concert tours to Europe followed. His performance with fiddler Jean Carignan at the 1960 Newport Folk Festival was recorded for Vanguard Recording . With Carignan he also took part in the Mariposa Folk Festival and the Winnipeg Folk Festival several times . Between 1963 and 1967 he toured the United States and Canada with guitarist and entertainer Bram Morrison .

Mills often wrote the lyrics and arranged the music for his shows. His version of Rose Bone's song I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly became famous and was later recorded by folk singers such as Burl Ives , Peter, Paul and Mary , Pete Seeger and Fred Penner . In 1967 he took part in the recordings for the nine-part collection Canadian Folk Songs: A Centennial Collection , for which he also wrote the booklet.

Mills had already gained experience in amateur drama groups as a teenager. He later worked as an actor in several radio productions ( Laura Limited , The Way of the Spirit ), and in 1952 he played Doctor Pangloss in a stage version of The Best of All Possible Worlds in Toronto . Under his name Albert Miller he appeared in the film Operation Manhount (1954, about Igor Gouzenko ). 1970-71 he appeared in 26 episodes of the CBC television series Adventures in Rainbow Country . His radio play Ti-Jean and the Devil based on a Canadian fairy tale recorded by Jean Carignan premiered on CBC radio in 1961. In 1974 Mills was named a member of the Order of Canada .

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personal data
SURNAME Mills, Alan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Miller, Albert (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian singer, actor and author
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Lachine
DATE OF DEATH June 14, 1977
Place of death Montreal