Harve Presnell died he was 75

Harve Presnell died he was 75. Presnell was a Golden Globe-winning American film, musical theatre and television actor and singer.
(September 14, 1933 – June 30, 2009)

Presnell was born as George Harvey Presnell in Modesto, California,[1] and attended the University of Southern California.[2] He made his stage debut at the age of sixteen, singing in an opera.

His height, booming voice, and operatic training landed him the role of Johnnie Brown in Meredith Willson's 1960 Broadway musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown, which was written for him.[3] He later reprised the role in the 1964 film version. He appeared as a cavalry scout in The Glory Guys (1965) and sang the stirring "They Call the Wind Maria" in the 1969 film Paint Your Wagon.

Presnell did some other film and television work in the 1960s and early 1970s, but for the next couple of decades concentrated primarily on stage work, playing Rhett Butler in the West End production of Scarlett and touring the United States as Daddy Warbucks in Annie and its sequel, Annie Warbucks, among other productions. In 1966, Presnell played the role of Sir Lancelot in Camelot in the Regional Equity production at The Houston Music Theatre, owned by Art Linkletter and Nick Mayo (the partnership also owned the Valley Music Theatre in California). Harve's booming voice sang to standing ovations when he performed the wondrous, "If Ever I Would Leave You", the role and song made famous by Robert Goulet.
His film career was revived when he played William H. Macy's father-in-law in Fargo (1996). Subsequent parts included General George C. Marshall in Saving Private Ryan, Mr. Parker on The Pretender, Dr. Sam Lane on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and A.I. Brooks on Dawson's Creek. He starred in NBC's Andy Barker, P.I.
In 1984 Presnell appeared as Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha at the Darien Dinner Theater and received rave reviews from The New York Times.[4]"As an actor, Mr. Presnell promises much, and as a singer, he delivers. Here is one of the shiniest vocal accounts of the role yet," wrote Alvin Klein.[4] "The actor is on the verge of suggesting that in his implausible way, the Don can bring a measure of grace to the world and fulfill that old impossible dream."[4]
He sang the baritone role in Eugene Ormandy's 1960 recording of Carmina Burana, released by Columbia/Sony on LP and CD. His earliest recordings were as a soloist with the Roger Wagner Chorale (Capitol) in the '50s with the Chorale in the background particularly in the LP Joy to the World where he sang in "O Holy Night" (Cantique De Noel) — a version that is believed to have popularized the carol in the USA — and the LPs Folk Songs of the New World [Capitol P8324 (1955)] and Folk Songs of the Frontier [Capitol P8332 (1956)], where he sang "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie", "Streets of Laredo", and "He's Gone Away" — the latter with Marilyn Horne as fellow soloist. [3]



Harve Presnell died on Tuesday, June 30, 2009, aged 75, from pancreatic cancer, at St. John's Health Center, in Santa Monica.[5]