William Ray

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William B. Ray (born April 10, 1925 in Lexington , United States ; † July 3, 2019 ) was an American opera singer ( baritone ) at European opera houses and a television actor in Germany.

Live and act

According to the family's wishes, Ray was supposed to be a lawyer, but instead attended a conservatory and also took acting classes on the side. Due to pervasive racism in the United States in the 1950s, Ray went to Europe early at an invitation from a talent scout who heard him sing at a theater in Cleveland, but Ray soon succeeded in making his debut as Amonasro in a performance of Verdi's Aida under the baton from Georg Solti to gain engagements at major opera stages (Vienna, Hamburg, Milan, London, Brussels, Frankfurt am Main and at the Cuvilliés Theater in Munich) and was also engaged as an actor. In German television plays of the 1960s and early 1970s, the Afro-American singer was always used when it was a question of casting blacks and “exotic people”. During his years in Germany, Ray lived in Leonberg near Stuttgart.

In 1982 he returned to the United States to teach at the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore from September of that year . In 1992 he retired, but was immediately asked by Howard University to continue teaching there. Until his final retirement in 2002, Ray headed the voice department there. In 2007, William Ray received the Legacy Award from the National Opera Association's Lift Every Voice, a prize that recognizes the artistic contributions of black Americans to the opera sector should be. In 2009, the singer finally received the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County (Maryland) the Annie Award in the field of performing arts. William Ray, who is married to a singer and music teacher, had two sons.

Filmography

as an actor

  • 1961: The engagement in St. Domingo
  • 1963: The eighth round
  • 1965: The honorable lady
  • 1965: Welcome to Altamont
  • 1966: Moor wash
  • 1968: The ice cream man comes
  • 1970: The Minister and the Duck
  • 1970: Theater wardrobe (TV series, one episode)
  • 1971: The witness
  • 1972: Crime scene: Dead dove in Beethovenstrasse
  • 1974: The death of the snow birds
  • 1975: Derrick (an episode)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Slipped Disc | Banned in the USA, William Ray made his name in European opera. Retrieved October 13, 2019 (UK English).
  2. ^ Washington Afro American bulletin
personal data
SURNAME Ray, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ray, William B.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American opera singer (baritone), television actor in Germany
DATE OF BIRTH April 10, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Lexington , United States
DATE OF DEATH 3rd July 2019