Thomas Hayward, Leading Met Tenor In 40's, Dies at 77 (original) (raw)
Thomas Hayward, Leading Met Tenor In 40's, Dies at 77
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- Feb. 6, 1995
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February 6, 1995
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Thomas Hayward, a leading tenor at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1940's and 1950's, died on Thursday at his home in Las Vegas, Nev. He was 77.
He had suffered from kidney and heart failure, said a daughter, Carol Anne Klusak.
Mr. Hayward first became known to New York opera audiences in 1945, when he was one of the two winners of the "Metropolitan Opera Presents" auditions. The victory earned him $1,000, as well as a contract. As a lyric tenor, he sang with the Met for 14 years and had leading roles in "Madama Butterfly," "La Traviata," "Rigoletto" and "Faust."
Mr. Hayward had more than 400 concert performances with major symphony orchestras in North America. He also starred in a long-running NBC radio show, "Serenade to America."
In the mid-1960's, Mr. Hayward left New York for Dallas and began a second career as a teacher at Southern Methodist University. He stayed there as professor of voice and opera until last year, when he and his wife retired to Las Vegas.
Mr. Hayward's career got underway relatively late. He was born in Kansas City, Mo., and after high school he worked as an office boy at General Electric. Two General Electric executives urged him to continue singing and arranged an audition in Chicago with NBC.
But he had no success at that audition, nor during a trip he made to New York with his mother in 1943. His luck changed during another visit to New York, in 1944, and he began singing for the City Center Opera.
He is survived by his wife, Merry June; two daughters, Ms. Klusak, of Las Vegas, and Linda Marie Badinger of Greeley, Colo., and six grandchildren.
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