Warfield, William, 1920-2002

Dates

• Existence: 1920-2002

Biographical Statement

Bass baritone singer, actor, narrator, and professor William Warfield was considered one of the finest singer-actors of the 20th century. Born to a family of sharecroppers in Arkansas, Warfield's musical talents were recognized while a teenager when he won a national music competition. Warfield's career spanned six decades, during which he toured the United States and the world. Warfield was married to operatic singer Leontyne Price from 1952-1972.

William Warfield was born January 22, 1920, in West Helena, Arkansas. He was the eldest of five sons born to sharecroppers, and was two years old when his father, Robert E. Warfield, decided to move his family north to Rochester, New York, seeking better educational and employment opportunities. In Rochester, Robert E. Warfield held several jobs, serving as a member of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce and as the pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church, where William served as a member of the choir.

In 1937, Elsa Miller, William Warfield's music teacher at Washington High encouraged him to enter the regional auditions of the National Music Educators League Competition. Warfield was awarded first prize, which enabled him to attend the national finals in St. Louis, Missouri. Again, Warfield was awarded first prize and a scholarship to any American music school. Warfield chose Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree.

After graduating from Eastman, Warfield served in the military. Following basic training, he was stationed at Camp Ritchie in Maryland, where he served during World War II. He met fellow soldier Larry Goodkind during this time. Goodkind was a musician and motion picture executive who became Warfield's close friend and manager. After spending four years in the military, Warfield returned to Eastman School of Music to study for his Master's degree.

While studying for his Master's degree, Warfield was selected as the lead in the national tour of the Broadway hit "Call Me Mister" in 1946. After touring in the musical for a year, Warfield appeared in the Broadway plays "Set My People Free" and "Regina." He also began singing in various nightclubs in New York.



In 1950, Warfield made his critically acclaimed recital debut in New York City at the famous Town Hall. His performance was an immediate success, and put Warfield into the top rank of American concert artists. Immediately after the concert at Town Hall he was invited by the Australian Broadcasting Company to tour the continent for 35 concerts, including solo performances with five leading symphony orchestras. While on tour in Australia his manager, Larry Goodkind, signed a contract with MGM, which led to Warfield's lead role in the MGM play "Showboat."



Warfield toured Europe in 1952 as part of George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess," playing the role of Porgy alongside Leontyne Price. During the play, Warfield fell madly in love with his co-star Price, and the two were married in New York City 1952. The couple performed together at multiple venues, but also maintained their separate careers. Eventually, Warfield and Price divorced in 1972.

From 1955 to 1958, William Warfield made multiple tours for the U.S. State Department. He toured Africa, the Middle East, and Western Europe, and was the only soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra on its visit to Europe. Warfield made a total of six tours for the State Department, the most made by any American artist during those years.

Beginning in the 1960s and for the next three decades, Warfield starred or participated in numerous concerts, films, recitals, and solo appearances. He accepted an appointment as Professor of Music at the University of Illinois in 1975. Warfield received honorary degrees from the University of Arkansas (1972), Lafayette College (1977), Boston University (1982), Augustana College (1983), and James Milikin University (1983). In 1984, he won a Grammy award in the spoken word category for his variation of Aaron Copeland's "A Lincoln Portrait."

Warfield was installed as President of the National Association of Negro Musicians in 1985, and in 1993 he helped found the National Conservatory of Music Movement, which was dedicated to the memory of Marian Anderson. Warfield accepted an appointment at Northwestern University in 1994. He joined the Board of the Schiller Institute two years later, where he engaged in the efforts of the Institute to revive a movement for a National Conservatory of Music, which was pioneered at the beginning of the century by Antonin Dvorak. William Warfield died August 26, 2002, in Chicago, Illinois.

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