Robert Merrill

One of the Metropolitan Opera's most enduring and acclaimed baritones, Brooklyn-born Robert Merrill was born Moishe Miller on June 4, 1917 (some sources list 1919), the son of Polish émigrés. His father, Abraham, was a shoe salesman and mother Lillian was an operatic soprano who performed in concert before her marriage. His parents changed their last name to Miller upon their arrival in the United States. Robert's mother was the one who encouraged and guided Robert during his early operatic training after an initially promising career as a semipro pitcher subsided. Overweight and unhappy as a child, he was further hampered by a stuttering problem that only went away when he sang.

His first audition for the Metropolitan Opera in 1941 was not successful. He made ends meet by singing for bar mitzvahs and weddings.

Robert finally made his operatic debut in 1944 voicing the role of Amonasro in "Aida" in Trenton, New Jersey, then successfully joined the Met the following year, taking his first company bow in December as Germont in "La Traviata. " Displaying an amazingly vigorous yet smooth and effortless baritone, other roles in his standard repertoire would include the title role in "Rigoletto," Figaro in "The Barber of Seville," "Tonio in "Pagliacci" and Escamillo in "Carmen. " Robert was deemed one of the finest Giuseppe Verdi baritones of his generation. Unlike most of his peers, Robert extended himself willingly into the radio, film, nightclub and TV arenas. He even performed in Vegas.

Harmlessly featured in the comedy western Senorita from the West (1945) starring Allan Jones, Robert's subsequent part in the innocuously-titled Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952) with Dinah Shore and Alan Young (of Mister Ed (1958) fame), in which he played an on-the-lam crook, was an unmitigated disaster. Realizing his mistake, he returned quickly to the company after several public apologies to Mr. Bing. On TV, he made guest appearances on "Your Show of Shows," "The Jackie Gleason Show," "The Milton Berle Show," ""The Red Skelton Show" "Sonny and Cher.

A featured soloist on radio's RCA Victor Show in 1946, he abandoned the Met for a time to jump at a chance to co-star in a film. This led to a volatile falling out with the Met's general manager, Rudolf Bing.

They were both frequent guests on Ed Sullivan's variety show, The Ed Sullivan Show (1948), during the 1950s and 1960s. Two children were born from his second marriage to pianist Marion Machno.

" He also appeared in TV operatic productions of Don Carlo (1950) and Carmen (1952), as well as talk show and game show circuits. Robert's first marriage to the Met's reigning soprano Roberta Peters lasted a dismal three months. They remained friends, however, and would perform together from time to time.

His desire to branch into movie stardom, in the 1951 film Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952), brought him into direct conflict with the Metropolitan Opera's autocratic General Manager, Sir Rudolf Bing. Making the film would have conflicted with some of Merrill's Met assignments. Bing felt that grand opera and the movies did not mix, having fired Met mainstays Lauritz Melchior and Helen Traubel for similar reasons earlier. When Merrill refused to budge in the matter, he was also fired. Eighteen months later, the film having failed at the box office, Merrill was reinstated only after practically begging Bing for another chance. Relations between the two men were cordial, but never really friendly, after that. Merrill retired shortly after celebrating his 30th anniversary with the Met in 1975.

Remained in the shadows of baritone Leonard Warren during his early years at the Met. Following Warren's sudden death onstage at the Met in 1960, Merrill became the principal baritone.

Was a lifelong Yankees fan. Beginning in 1969, he followed a tradition that lasted three decades, singing the season-opener rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Yankee Stadium.

Robert continued to sing at the Met until 1976, performing sporadically after that as a recitalist.

Co-wrote, with Fred Jarvis, the novel "The Divas" in 1978. The novel, a roman a clef about the romantic comings and goings in a major opera company, sold moderately well.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 364-365. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.

A lifetime baseball fan, whose recording of "The Star-Spangled Banner" was played before New York Yankees home games for three decades, Merrill died while at home watching the first game of the 2004 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox.