PALM DESERT, Calif., Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Veteran stage, movie and television actor and singer Howard Keel has died of colon cancer at his California home. He was 85.
His most lucrative stint was on television's "Dallas," where he played the second husband to the show's Miss Ellie, a role he began in 1981, running through the end of the series in 1991.
He stood 6-foot-3, was barrel-chested and possessed a bass-baritone voice. He sang opposite Kathryn Grayson in "Show Boat," "Lovely to Look At" and "Kiss Me Kate." He paired with Doris Day in "Calamity Jane" and with Ann Blyth in "Rose Marie" and "Kismet." He romanced Esther Williams in "Pagan Love Song," "Texas Carnival" and "Jupiter's Darling." And he courted Jane Powell in his favorite film, the rousing 1954 "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."
Keel was married and divorced from actress Rosemary Cooper, and from dancer Helen Anderson, with whom he had three children, Kaija, Kristine and Gunnar. In 1970, he married former flight attendant Judy Magamoll, with whom he had daughter Leslie. In addition to his wife and children, he is survived by 10 grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
A memorial service was being planned, and the funeral will be private, the Los Angeles Times said Monday.
