Richard Crooks

Richard Alexander Crooks (June 26, 1900 – September 29, 1972) was an American tenor and a leading singer at the New York Metropolitan Opera.
He was born the second son of Alexander and Elizabeth Crooks on June 26, 1900 in Trenton, New Jersey and attended Trenton Central High School. Following several concert seasons as an oratorio and song recital specialist, including the American premier of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, he traveled to Germany where he made his operatic debut in Hamburg as Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca in 1927. After his tour in other European cities such as Berlin, Crooks returned to the US and made his American debut in 1930 in Philadelphia. He became a star of the Metropolitan Opera, specializing in French and Italian operas. 
From 1928 to 1945, Crooks was the host of "The Voice of Firestone" radio broadcasts, in which he sang operatic arias, patriotic songs, folk songs, and popular hits such as "People Will Say We're in Love" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! in 1943. 
Health problems forced Crooks to retire in early 1945. He continued to sing, however, at his church and elsewhere. Some of his performances were taped. He had married his childhood sweetheart and spent his later years in Portola Valley, California. An entire room in his house was devoted to framed, autographed photographs of singers, conductors, and U.S. presidents he had known.
==Links to Peel==
Peel played his Richard's track, Arise O Sun, for the Peelenium 1921. However, the singer seemed to have started his recording career in the late 20's, rather than 1921 or anything before that.
==Shows Played==
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*01 July 1999: Arise O Sun (Peelenium 1921)
==External Links==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
Category:Artists