Artist Name
Richard Crooks

heart icon off (0 users)
Logo
transparent

Artist Image
artist thumb

Functions

transparent
Data Complete
percent bar 20%

Members
members icon 1 Male

Origin
flag Trenton, New Jersey

Genre
genre icon Classical

Style
---

Mood
---

Born

born icon 1900

Active
calendar icon 1927 to dead icon 1972

Cutout
transparent

Current Record Label

artist logo


heart icon Most Loved Tracks
No loved tracks found...

youtube icon Music Video Links
No Music Videos Found...



Artist Biography
Available in: gb icon
Richard Alexander Crooks (June 26, 1900 – September 29, 1972) was an American tenor and a leading singer at the New York Metropolitan Opera.
He was born the second son of Alexander and Elizabeth Crooks on June 26, 1900 in Trenton, New Jersey. Following several concert seasons as an oratorio and song recital specialist, including the American premier of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, he traveled to Germany where he made his operatic debut in Hamburg as Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca in 1927. After his tour in other European cities such as Berlin, Crooks returned to the United States and made his American debut in 1930 in Philadelphia. He became a star of the Metropolitan Opera, specializing in French and Italian operas. He participated in the farewell gala on March 29, 1936, for Spanish soprano Lucrezia Bori, which was broadcast nationally and preserved on transcription discs.
From 1928 to 1945, Crooks was the host of "The Voice of Firestone" radio broadcasts, in which he sang operatic arias, patriotic songs, folk songs, and popular hits such as "People Will Say We're in Love" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! in 1943. He also appeared on radio broadcasts with Bing Crosby, who remained a friend until Crooks's death.
Health problems forced Crooks to retire in early 1945. He continued to sing, however, at his church and elsewhere. Some of his performances were taped. He had married his childhood sweetheart and spent his later years in Portola Valley, California. An entire room in his house was devoted to framed, autographed photographs of singers, conductors, and U.S. presidents he had known. In conversations, he often praised two of the other great tenors he had heard in person: Enrico Caruso and Jussi Björling.
wiki icon

Wide Thumb
transparent

Clearart
transparent

Fanart
transparent icontransparent icon
transparent icontransparent icon

Banner
transparent icon

User Comments

transparent iconNo comments yet..


Status
unlocked icon Unlocked
Last Edit by leepenny
18th Apr 2019

Socials


Streaming


External Links
fanart.tv icon musicbrainz icon last.fm icon website icon unlocked iconamazon icon