Kathleen Howard (July 27, 1884 – April 15, 1956) was a Canadian-born American opera singer, magazine editor, and character actress from the mid-1930s through the 1940s.

Biography

Howard was born in Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada on July 27, 1884. In 1906, Howard began her career in opera in Germany. Following eight years of singing in Berlin, she performed concerts in Belgium, England, Germany, Holland, and Scandinavia. She arrived in America in 1913 and joined the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

in 1916. She remained a leading Met artist through 1928, taking major and secondary roles. Howard created the role of Zita in

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...

's '' Gianni Schicchi'' at the

in 1918. Until

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Howard was part of the repertory system in the opera houses of Metz and Darmstadt. Beginning in 1918, for four years, Howard was the fashion editor of ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

'' magazine and while in that post was also president of Fashion Group International. She resigned to begin acting in films. Her film debut came in '' Death Takes a Holiday'' (1934). She played Amelia, the nagging, shrewish wife of W.C. Fields in ''

It's a Gift ''It's a Gift'' is a 1934 American comedy film starring W.C. Fields. It was Fields's 16th sound film and his fifth in 1934 alone. The film concerns the trials and tribulations of a grocer as he battles a shrewish wife, an incompetent assista ...

'' (1934), and appeared in two other Fields films: '' You're Telling Me!'' (1934) and '' Man on the Flying Trapeze'' (1935). Howard died on April 15, 1956, aged 71, in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

after a long illness. She was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York.

Legacy

Howard did not make as many opera recordings during the acoustical era as did her contemporaries Geraldine Farrar and

Mary Garden Mary Garden (20 February 1874 – 3 January 1967) was a Scottish-American operatic lyric soprano, then mezzo-soprano, with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century. She spent the latter part of her chil ...

, and thus was not as well known. Her few recordings were vertical-cut discs for

Edison Records Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important and successful company in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by ...

, playable only on Edison Disc Phonographs; and for the American branch of

Pathé Frères Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

in 1918, which received limited distribution. Among them are Harry Burleigh's arrangement of the spiritual "Deep River", arias from

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

's ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' and

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

's '' Il Trovatore'' (in English), and the "Barcarolle" from

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...

's ''

Les contes d'Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...

'' with Claudia Muzio (in French).

Filmography

References

External links

*
C''onfessions of an Opera Singer''
freely available at gutenberg.org in many formats. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Kathleen 1884 births 1956 deaths Burials at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo) American film actresses American magazine editors American television actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian magazine editors 20th-century Canadian women opera singers Canadian television actresses Actresses from Ontario Actresses from Buffalo, New York 20th-century American actresses 20th-century Canadian actresses American women magazine editors Canadian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American women opera singers 20th Century Studios contract players Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players