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Robert Merrill
Merrill in the 1940s
Background information
Also known as	Robert Merrill Morris Miller
Born	Moishe Miller (1917-06-04)June 4, 1917 Brooklyn, New York, US
Died	October 23, 2004(2004-10-23) (aged 87) New Rochelle, New York, US
Genres	Opera Musical theatre
Occupations	Singer Actor
Instruments	Voice (baritone)
Formerly of	Metropolitan Opera

Robert Merrill (June 4, 1917 – October 23, 2004) was an Americanoperaticbaritone and actor, who was also active in themusical theatre circuit. He received theNational Medal of Arts in 1993.

Merrill was bornMoishe Miller, later known asMorris Miller, in theWilliamsburg section ofBrooklyn, New York. He was the son of tailor Abraham Miller, originally Milstein, and his wife, Lillian (née Balaban), Jewish immigrants fromPultusk, Poland, near Warsaw. His paternal grandparents were Berl Milstein and Chana (née Mlawski), both from Pultusk, Poland.^{[citation needed]}

His mother claimed to have had an operatic and concert career in Poland (a fact denied by her son in his biographies) and encouraged her son to have early voice training: he had a stutter, which wasn't apparent when singing. Merrill was inspired to pursue professional singing lessons when he saw the baritoneRichard Bonelli singing Count Di Luna in a performance ofIl Trovatore at theMetropolitan Opera, and paid for them with money earned as a semi-professionalpitcher.^[1]

In his early radio appearances as acrooner he was sometimes billed asMerrill Miller. While singing atbar mitzvahs and weddings andBorscht Belt resorts, he met an agent, Moe Gale, who found him work atRadio City Music Hall and with theNBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted byArturo Toscanini. With Toscanini conducting, he eventually sang in two of the maestro's NBC Symphony broadcasts of famous operas,La traviata (withLicia Albanese, in 1946), andUn ballo in maschera (withHerva Nelli, in 1954). Both of those operas were recorded and later released on both LP and CD byRCA Victor. His ranking as an important NBC performer is evidenced by his inclusion inNBC's 1947 promotional book,NBC Parade of Stars: As Heard Over Your Favorite NBC Station, displayingSam Berman's caricatures of leading NBC personalities.

Merrill's 1944 operatic debut was inVerdi'sAida atNewark, New Jersey, with the famous tenorGiovanni Martinelli, then in the later stages of his long operatic career. Merrill, who had continued his vocal studies underSamuel Margolis made his debut at theMetropolitan Opera as winner of theMetropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air in 1945, as Germont inLa traviata. Also in 1945, Merrill recorded a 78 rpm album set withJeanette MacDonald, featuring selections from the operettaUp in Central Park; MacDonald and Merrill sang two duets together on this album.

External audio
Robert Merrill as Escamillo inGeorges Bizet's operaCarmen withFritz Reiner conducting theRCA Victor Orchestra andJan Peerce,Risë Stevens andLicia Albanese in 1951

In 1951, Merrill recorded a series of operatic duets with the Swedish tenorJussi Björling for RCA Victor, including a world-renowned recording of "Au fond du temple saint" from the operaLes pêcheurs de perles byGeorges Bizet. That same year he participated in another celebrated RCA Victor recording, Bizet'sCarmen withRisë Stevens andJan Peerce, conducted byFritz Reiner.

In 1952 Merrill, Björling, andVictoria de los Ángeles made a widely admired RCA Victor recording of Puccini'sLa bohème, conducted by SirThomas Beecham. In 1953, Merrill, Björling, de los Angeles andZinka Milanov recorded the completePagliacci andCavalleria rusticana.

His role in the musical comedy filmAaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952) led to a conflict with SirRudolf Bing and a brief departure from the Met in 1951. Merrill sang many different baritone roles, and after the on-stage death of the celebratedLeonard Warren in 1960, became the Met's principal baritone, sharing that position in a few years with Cornell MacNeil. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he appeared under the direction ofAlfredo Antonini in performances of arias from the Italian operatic repertoire for the open airItalian Night concert series atLewisohn Stadium in New York City.^[2][3][4][5]

He was described byTime as "one of the Met's best baritones". Yet reviews were not consistently good:Opera magazine reported on a Metropolitan Opera performance ofBarber of Seville in which Merrill delivered "by all odds the most insensitive impersonation of the season". He was accused by the reviewer of "loud, coarse sounds" and "no grace, no charm, as he butchered the text and galumphed around the stage".^[6]

Merrill appeared on "Voice of Firestone" with Joanne Hill.

Merrill also continued to perform on radio and television, in nightclubs and recitals. In 1973, Merrill teamed up withRichard Tucker to present a concert at Carnegie Hall—a first for the two "vocal supermen" (as one critic dubbed them), and a first "for the demanding New York public and critics," Merrill recalled. The event marked a precedent that eventually led to the "Three Tenors" concerts many years later. Merrill retired from the Met in 1976. In 1977, he appeared on the TV special "Sinatra & Friends," soloing "If I Were A Rich Man" and performing "The Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York" with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. For many years, he led services, often in Borscht Belt hotels, onRosh Hashana andYom Kippur.

In honor of Merrill's vast influence on American vocal music, on February 16, 1981, he was awarded the prestigiousUniversity of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit.^[7]

First awarded in 1964, the Award of Merit honors an individual that has "made a significant contribution to the world of music and helped to create a climate in which our talents may find valid expression."^[7]

In 1996, at a reception atLincoln Center, Merrill was presented with The Lawrence Tibbett Award from the AGMA Relief Fund, honoring his fifty years of professional achievement and dedication to colleagues. The AGMA Relief Fund, award sponsor, provides financial assistance and support services to classical performing artists in need.^{[citation needed]}

Relatively late in his singing career, Merrill also became known for singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" atYankee Stadium andGiants Stadium. He first sang thenational anthem to open the 1967baseball season, and it became a tradition for theYankees to bring him back each year onOpening Day and special occasions. He sang at various Old Timer's Days (wearing his own pinstriped Yankee uniform with the number "11⁄2" on the back) and the emotionalpre-game ceremony in memory ofThurman Munson at Yankee Stadium on August 3, 1979, the day after the catcher died in a plane crash. Merrill also sang at one World Series game in each year the Yankees played the Fall Classic at the stadium, starting in1976. A recorded Merrill version is still sometimes used atYankee Stadium, mainly at Old Timer's Day. In 2021, the Yankees replaced the live organ version of "God Bless America" that had played for almost two years with Merrill's cover.

Merrill preferred a traditional approach to the song, devoid of additionalornamentation, as he explained toNewsday in 2000, "When you sing the anthem, there's a legitimacy to it. I'm extremely bothered by these different interpretations of it." Merrill appeared oppositeAdam Sandler in a scene singing the national anthem, in the 2003 filmAnger Management. Merrill joked that an entire generation of people know him as "The 'Say-Can-You-See' guy!" (Agmazine, April 1996).

While there has been dispute regarding his birth year (some claim he was born in 1919),^[1] theSocial Security Death Index,^[8] his family, and his gravestone state that he was born in 1917.

Merrill marriedsopranoRoberta Peters in 1952, however they divorced shortly afterwards. He had two children with his second wife, Marion Machno, apianist. Merrill liked to play golf and was a member of theWestchester Country Club in Rye, New York, for many years.

He wrote two books of memoirs,Once More from the Beginning (1965) andBetween Acts (1976), and he co-authored a novel,The Divas (1978).

Merrill toured all over the world with his arranger and conductor, Angelo DiPippo, who wrote most of his act and performed at concert halls throughout the world.

Merrill died on October 23, 2004, at his home inNew Rochelle, New York, at age 87. He is interred at theSharon Gardens Cemetery inValhalla, New York, which is the Jewish division ofKensico Cemetery. His headstone features an opera curtain that has been drawn open.

His epitaph states: "Like a bursting celestial star, he showered his family and the world with love, joy, and beauty. Encore please."

Robert Merrill sang789 performances with the Metropolitan Opera in the following 21 roles:^[9]

External audio
You may hear Robert Merrill performing Verdi's "La Traviata" withRichard Tucker,Anna Moffo and the Rome Opera Orchestra conducted byFernando Previtali in 1961 Here on Archive.org

Robert Merrill made at least 25 studio recordings of complete operas, including two Toscanini radio broadcasts:^[10]

• A Salute to American Music (Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala XVI, 1991)

• WNYCSoundcheck: Robert Merrill Remembered (October 26, 2004)

• Robert Merrill atFind a Grave
• Discography of opera recordings (Capon's Lists of Opera Recordings)
• The New York Times, Obituary, October 26, 2004
• "Great Singers Remembered: Robert Merrill" by Philip Ehrensaft.La Scena Musicale, May 14, 2005
• Robert Merrill atIMDb

• 1917 births
• 2004 deaths
• 20th-century American Jews
• 20th-century American male actors
• 20th-century American male opera singers
• 20th-century American memoirists
• 20th-century American novelists
• American operatic baritones
• American people of Polish-Jewish descent
• Burials at Kensico Cemetery
• Classical musicians from New York (state)
• Grammy Award winners
• Jewish American male actors
• Jewish American musicians
• Jewish classical musicians
• Jewish opera singers
• Singers from Brooklyn
• Musicians from New Rochelle, New York
• New York Yankees
• Musicians from Brooklyn
• People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn
• RCA Victor artists
• United States National Medal of Arts recipients
• Winners of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air

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