Baritone Also Known for ‘Carousel’ Role : ‘Oklahoma!’ Star Gordon MacRae Dies

Gordon MacRae, the clean-cut, full-throated baritone who triumphed over the alcoholism that threatened a career that involved such grandiose musical films as “Oklahoma!” and “Carousel,” died Friday at Bryan Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, Neb.

He was 64, said hospital spokesman Edwin Shafer, who added that MacRae had been hospitalized since November suffering from cancer of the mouth and jaw and pneumonia.

“He died very peacefully in his sleep,” said his wife, Elizabeth.

Although he appeared in several successful radio and television programs and on the stage, MacRae will be remembered by America’s multitudes for “Carousel” and “Oklahoma!” In each he appeared opposite Shirley Jones, and her lilting soprano proved an appealing complement to MacRae’s sonorous crooning.

He became for millions the essentially lyrical Man of the West as Curly in “Oklahoma!”--a lovesick cowpoke serenading Jones in the surrey with the fringe on top.

MacRae was the son of “Wee Willie” MacRae, a singer turned businessman who encouraged his son’s innate talent.

As a youth, MacRae won a singing contest sponsored by a magazine. His prize was a two-week engagement with the Harry James and Les Brown bands at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. When no other employment resulted, he joined a playhouse in New York City to add acting to his musical skills.

By 1940 he was an educated if jobless thespian and had taken a job as a page boy at NBC radio where he convinced Horace Heidt that he was worthy of an audition. He joined the bandleader’s Musical Knights and was doing occasional network spots when World War II intervened.

Discharged as an Air Force navigator, he returned to Broadway where he earned a lead role in “Three to Make Ready.” Additional radio followed, including “Texaco Star Theater” in 1947 and “The Railroad Hour” in 1948.

In 1947 he signed a recording career with Capitol and two songs--”A Fellow Needs a Girl” and “Body and Soul”--sold well for him as did subsequent recorded duets with Jo Stafford.

Released by Warners

In the late 1940s he consummated a picture deal with Warner Brothers that resulted in such films as “The Big Punch,” “West Point Story” and “Three Sailors and a Girl.” They attracted scant notice, and Warners released him in 1954 at his request.

It was as a free agent that he landed the parts that established him in the firmament of film--”Oklahoma!,” in which he sang the songs made famous by Alfred Drake on the stage, and “Carousel,” a John Raitt triumph on Broadway.

In all he made 25 pictures including “The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady,” “Tea for Two,” a remake of “The Desert Song” and “The Best Things in Life Are Free.”

He married an actress who was to play Alice Kramden on “The Honeymooners” in 1971. In 1956 Sheila and Gordon MacRae produced for television “The Gordon MacRae Show.” They by then had four children, including daughter Meredith, who was to have her own entertainment career, and the family toured nightclubs during the late 1950s.

By the late 1960s, his life, his marriage and his career were all about over because of drinking.

‘One Hell of a Drunk’

“I was one hell of a drunk,” he said in 1982. He recalled going to a club in North Hollywood (“a prep school for alcoholics.”) “I used to stand at the bar and try to outdrink Bogey (Humphrey Bogart) and Errol Flynn.”

The drinking outpaced the bookings, and by 1977 he was forced to cancel a concert in Greenville, S.C., because he could not remember his lyrics. He later entered an alcoholism treatment center in Lincoln, home of his new wife.

“I think I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Greenville because it was there that I finally hit rock bottom,” he said later.

He had lived in Lincoln with his second wife, Elizabeth, until his death because “it reminded me of my hometown (East Orange, N.J.) The friendly relaxed atmosphere in the state is great.”

One of his final appearances was in Las Vegas in October, 1982, shortly before he suffered a stroke.

Benefit for Alcoholism Council

It was a benefit for the National Council on Alcoholism, which MacRae adopted as a favored charity after his own recovery.

He referred to the occasion as “our third annual Follies Berserk” but on a more serious note between songs reflected how “you hit bottom, then you make up your mind. . . . I’m sober 23 months now.”

A memorial service will be held Monday at Lincoln’s Sheridan Lutheran Church.

The family asked that contributions be sent to the National Council on Alcoholism, which MacRae was serving as honorary chairman at his death.