About
Operatic baritone who most notably sang the lead role in Verdi's acclaimed opera, Rigoletto.
Before Fame
He sang in the Radio City Music Hall chorus during the mid-1930s and made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1938.
Trivia
He died at the age of forty-eight from a cerebral hemorrhage while on stage during a 1960 performance of La Forza del Destino.
Family Life
He was born in New York to Russian immigrant parents of the Jewish faith. He later converted to the Catholic faith of his wife Agatha.
Associated With
He and soprano Leontyne Price performed together for a recording of the Verdi opera Il Trovatore.
