Norman Kelley

Norman Kelley (August 27, 1911 – September 4, 2006) was an American operatic tenor who had an active international career during the 1940s through the 1970s. He was notably a regular performer at the Metropolitan Opera between 1957 and 1961, and he sang in several world premieres with the New York City Opera. He also notably translated Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel into English, a version first performed in 1967 and used by opera companies to this present day.

Kelley was born and raised in Eddington, Maine, the oldest child of John Kelley and Janet Kelley (née Shiels) Kelley. At the age of 16, he moved to Boston with the intention of training to be a minister at Gordon College. However, an advertisement for acting instruction at the Leland School caught his eye and, after auditioning, he won a scholarship to the school which enabled him to pursue studies in theatre and music. He entered the New England Conservatory where he began studying singing seriously. He then attended Pasadena College where he appeared in numerous student theatre productions.

In the 1930s, he sang on the stage of the Radio City Music Hall in New York City and appeared on the radio shows of Voice of Firestone and Major Bowes Amateur Hour, where he won second prize, an upright piano. He eventually won a scholarship to the Eastman School of Music to pursue graduate studies. Kelley's operatic career was put on hold however with the outbreak of World War II. He served in the United States Army from 1940 to 1945, performing on the radio show Fort Bragg Salutes America. In 1944, he married opera singer Maria Paradiso with whom he had two children. They divorced in 1969.

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