Viviane Blaine Sam Levene Isabel Bigley in the Original Broadway Production of Guys and Dolls

Isabel Bigley (February 23, 1926 – September 30, 2006) was an American actress. She originated the part of Sarah Brown in

Frank Loesser Frank Henry Loesser (; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals '' Guys and Dolls'' and '' How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', among others. He won a To ...

's '' Guys and Dolls''.

Biography

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

-born Bigley's mother, a concert singer, guided her early interest in music, and her high school music teacher arranged for her to audition for a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music in Manhattan, which she received. She had been playing the role of Laurey in the London production of ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells ...

'' in 1950 when she was offered the role of Sarah Brown, the "mission doll", in the original Broadway production of '' Guys and Dolls''. For her performance, she received the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In 1953 she starred as Jeanie, the chorus girl, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein show '' Me and Juliet'', a role created especially for her. She performed frequently in the early days of

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

in such shows as '' The Ed Sullivan Show'' and '' The Colgate Comedy Hour''. On June 25, 1951, she appeared with other entertainers in a one-hour program on CBS that was the start of nationally broadcast color television.

Personal life

In 1953, she married Lawrence R. Barnett, then president of the Music Corporation of America. She retired in 1958 to raise their four sons and two daughters. She died in 2006, aged 80, from pulmonary disease at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.Obituary
latimes.com, October 3, 2006. Her widower died on June 11, 2012, aged 98. Barnett and Bigley made many charitable contributions to arts education, including establishing a graduate program in arts policy and administration at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...

. Bigley lived in both Los Angeles and Rancho Mirage and in 2005 she was named chairwoman of the board of the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bigley, Isabel 1926 births 2006 deaths Actresses from New York City American musical theatre actresses Television personalities from California American women television personalities People from the Bronx People from Rancho Mirage, California Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Television pioneers Theatre World Award winners Tony Award winners Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women