One of the top Broadway baritones of the post WWII period, John Raitt maintained an incredibly resilient career that spanned over 60 years, showing remarkable power, range and stamina for a man who defied the odds by concertizing well into his 80s. He was born in Santa Ana, California in 1917, the son of Archie John Raitt and Stella Eulalie Walton, and graduated from the University of Redlands. Studying legit with Richard Cummings in his early years, one of his first appearances would be in 1940 in the chorus of HMS Pinafore with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Company. The following year he played the roles of Figaro and Count Almaviva in the Pasadena Civic Auditorium production of "The Barber of Seville," as well as Escamillo in "Carmen." At this time he earned an MGM contract and was seen without much fanfare in such pictures as _Flight Command , who inherited the vocal/instrumental talents of her parents but took a different, uncompetitive path as a blues-rock guitarist. Despite their polar musical styles, father and daughter performed frequently together on the live stage. John and wife Marjorie would later divorce and he remarried. Seldom on TV, the live stage would be John's invaluable legacy to the music world. He died in 2005 of complications from pneumonia at age 88.
Born at 5:00pm-PST
Father of Steven Raitt, David Raitt and singer Bonnie Raitt.
To celebrate the twentieth anniversary revival at Lincoln Center of Rodgers and Hammersteins "Carousel" (in which he recreated his original stage role of Billy Bigelow), Raitt made an appearance on the "Today" show in 1965 in which he sang the entire score of the show (even the songs written for female singers only!).
His professional debut was in 1940 in the chorus of "HMS Pinafore" with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera.
Sang duets with his daughter, Bonnie. ("Blowing Away" and "Hey, There")
Was originally told he was too tall to play Curly in "Oklahoma!" Hammerstein was so impressed with his voice that he decided Curly could be a tall man.
Former father-in-law of Michael OKeefe.
In 1935, competing for Fullerton High School in the California State Track and Field High-School Championships at Ratcliffe Stadium in Fresno, John Raitt won the shot-put with a throw of 55 feet 5 and 1/4 inches, and set a new state record in winning the football throw with a throw of 220 feet.
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 440-442. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Live Theatre at 6126 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
Grandfather of special effects modeler-animator Bay Raitt , co-creator of the character Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies.
