Photo: AnonymousUnknown author / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Howard Keel had one of those careers I find genuinely satisfying to look back on, a two-act life in entertainment. That rich bass-baritone made him a fixture of MGM musicals like Show Boat in the 1950s, the golden age of the studio musical. Then, when that world faded, he reinvented himself decades later as oil baron Clayton Farlow on Dallas, reaching a whole new audience through the 1980s. The star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame feels well deserved. What I take from his story is durability, the ability to ride a changing industry across half a century rather than be defined by a single moment.
Overview
Harold Clifford Keel (April 13, 1919 – November 7, 2004), professionally Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer known for his rich bass-baritone singing voice. He starred in a number of MGM musicals in the 1950s, including Show Boat (1951). He played the role of oil baron Clayton Farlow in the television series Dallas from 1981 to 1991.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Howard Keel
- Name (Japanese)
- ハワード・キール
- Reading
- はわーど・きーる
- Born
- April 13, 1919 – November 7, 2004
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aries / Goat
- Origin
- Gillespie, Illinois, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- singer / stage actor / film actor / television actor / recording artist
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Fallbrook Union High School
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Singer — see all → · Stage actor — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.