Advertisement

Nathan Broch; International Affairs Journalist

Share via

Nathan Broch, 79, international affairs journalist who interviewed Ho Chi Minh, Chiang Kai-shek, Willy Brandt and Golda Meir. Born in Cologne, Germany, Broch began his career on a French-language newspaper in Brussels. When Adolf Hitler marched into Belgium in 1940, Broch moved to France, then England and then to Indonesia, where he worked for Dutch-language newspapers. He also worked from Thailand and Australia. Fluent in half a dozen languages, he covered the army of Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the southwest Pacific for several newspapers printed in English, Dutch and French. Broch moved to the United States in 1946. He wrote for the Christian Science Monitor, the Birmingham News, the Beaumont Journal and the Houston Post. From 1960 until 1962, he wrote a foreign affairs column for the Los Angeles Mirror, now-defunct sister paper of The Times. He wound up his career in Rice University media relations. On Jan. 21 in Houston of a heart attack.

Gabor Carelli; Tenor for N.Y.’s Metropolitan Opera

Gabor Carelli, 83, tenor with the New York Metropolitan Opera for 23 years. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Carelli began vocal studies at the Franz Liszt Academy but also earned a law degree at the University of Budapest. He continued musical studies in Rome and made his debut as Rodolfo in Puccini’s “La Boheme” in Florence. Carelli moved to New York in 1939 and sang recitals across the country. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” in 1951 and sang for the Met through 1974, performing more than 1,000 times in 39 operas. He also taught at the Manhattan School of Music for 35 years. On Jan. 22 in New York City.

Virginia Verrill; Movie and Radio Singer

Virginia Verrill, 82, popular radio singer and the singing voice of such film actresses as Jean Harlow. The Santa Monica native first appeared in her mother’s vaudeville act when she was 5 months old and first sang publicly at 3. The song was “I Never Knew I Could Love Anybody,” and she sang it standing on a piano with Paul Whiteman’s band at the Palais Royale in New York’s Times Square. Already a veteran singer with the Orville Knapp band by 15, Verrill won an audition over 300 others to sing the title song in Barbara Stanwyck’s “Ten Cents a Dance.” Verrill became a professional voice-dubber, traveling almost daily from John Marshall High School to various Hollywood studios to sing for musically challenged actresses. Verrill sang for Harlow in “Reckless,” recorded the soundtrack of “The Goldwyn Follies” and appeared on-screen in “Walter Wanger’s Vogues of 1938” singing “That Old Feeling.” She also sang on CBS radio’s “Socony Sketchbook” and recorded with the Isham Jones Orchestra. On Jan. 18 in Raleigh, N.C.

Advertisement
Advertisement