LINCOLN, Neb. -- Actor-singer Gordon MacRae, who gained fame in the musicals 'Oklahoma' and 'Carousel' and later became a national spokesman in the fight against alcoholism, died Friday of cancer. He was 64.
MacRae died at 2:30 a.m. at Bryan Memorial Hospital, where he had been hospitalized since Nov. 27 for treatment of cancer of the mouth and jaw. A friend of MacRae's said the actor was a heavy smoker.
A Midwesterner with a rich voice, MacRae made good in every field he entered, becoming one of the entertainment industry's rare 'five-letter men' by enjoying success in films, radio, television, recording and nightclubs.
A headliner movie star in the 1940s and 1950s, he was featured in more than 25 major films during a career that also included appearances on Broadway.
MacRae was perhaps best known for his performance as Curly in the 1955 film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's landmark musical, 'Oklahoma,' and his role in 'Carousel' the following year.
'Those were classics that will be around long after I'm gone and long after my kids are gone,' MacRae said in a 1981 interview. 'They've become part of American musical history.'
MacRae was involved with television in the late 1950s, hosting the Colgate Comedy Hour and the Lux Television Theater. He also filled in occasionally for Ed Sullivan.
MacRae in 1967 married Elizabeth Lambert Schrafft, whose family lives in Sterling. They had one daughter, Amanda.
MacRae's marriage to Sheila MacRae, who played Alice Kramden in television's 'The Honeymooners,' ended in divorce in 1966 after 25 years. They had four children -- Meredith, Heather, W. Gordon and Bruce.
In 1978 MacRae entered the Independence Center at Lincoln General Hospital for treatment of alcoholism. Later he became honorary chairman of the National Council on Alcoholism.
'I found out I was drinking too much,' he said. 'When alcohol started to interfere with my family, my home life and my business, I decided to call it quits.'
MacRae chose to live in Nebraska partly because his wife Elizabeth had relatives in the state and because of what he called the friendliness of the people.
'I was introduced to the delights of Nebraska -- it reminded me of my hometown,' he said during a 1969 visit to Sterling.
'The friendly relaxed atmosphere in the state is great. Lincoln is a beautiful city,' he said in a 1970 interview.
In his later years, MacRae enjoyed a successful nightclub and concert career, making the best of a stroke that left his left arm paralyzed in 1982 and forced him to permanently settle in Lincoln, ending a 11-year commute from the Midwest to Beverly Hills.
MacRae was active in civic activities and was an official ambassador of good will for Nebraska.
MacRae, whose father was a successful manufacturer and singer under the name 'Wee Willie MacRae,' was born in East Orange, N.J., on March 12, 1921. His mother was a concert pianist.
Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Syracuse, N.Y., where MacRae was raised. After high school, he went to work in his father's manufacturing company on the East Coast.
'Then one day he heard me singing and asked me what I wanted to do for a living,' MacRae told United Press International in 1956. 'I said I wanted to go into show biz. He told me he'd help, and that was that.'
A memorial service was planned for 11:30 a.m. Monday at Sheridan Lutheran Church, with a private burial service to follow. The MacRae family asked that memorials be sent to the National Council on Alcoholism.
