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asked them to give their concert programme at his pre-inauguration party at the White House following his re-election in 1956, but they were unable to attend, as they were then in
Australia. Walker was the Honorary President of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of New York from 1951 until his death.
255:. The Gilbert and Sullivan historian Colin Prestige wrote of him, "Richard Walker knew exactly the limit between comedy and buffoonery. ... His Wilfred Shadbolt was sardonic, his Don Alhambra del Bolero urbane, his Pooh-Bah sanctimonious." Walker married a fellow company member,
251:, Shadbolt, Don Alhambra, and Pooh-Bah. In succeeding years he added to these the Usher, Private Willis and Boatswain. He filled in for Fancourt from time to time as Mountararat, Colonel Calverley, and the Mikado, and he also occasionally played Grosvenor in
72:
to
Australia and New Zealand throughout the 1950s and early 1960s in Gilbert and Sullivan as well as other works in their repertory. He also stage directed. In the early 1970s, they toured for more than four years in the original Australian production of
59:. He joined D'Oyly Carte at age 27 and remained with the company for 25 years. At first playing mostly smaller roles and understudying larger ones, by 1942 Walker had been promoted as a principal baritone of the company, playing roles like Pooh Bah in
278:
took over Walker's former roles of Pooh-Bah and Don
Alhambra, and the two now shared the roles of Bouncer and Private Willis. On 31 July 1948, Walker and Roberts left the company. Walker was doing concert work and had returned from a production of
22:
319:, and he directed the operas. Walker and Roberts also performed in musical comedies in Australia under other management. From 1959, they toured for more than four years in the original Australian production of
99:. Walker studied singing at the Midland Conservatoire of Music and earned a second degree (Licentiate) at the London College of Music. He began his career by touring for two years in concerts and
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During the 1930s and early 1940s, Walker played a variety of parts, both in his own right and as an occasional substitute. His own roles from 1932 were the Usher in
291:(Prestige wrote that his "interpretation ... can only be described as magnificent") and then Bouncer, Counsel, Bobstay, Pish-Tush, the Lieutenant, and Giuseppe in
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Walker also presented
Gilbert and Sullivan with Roberts in two-person entertainments throughout the United States and Canada beginning in the 1950s. President
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Beginning in 1947, both Walker and
Roberts began losing roles to other performers engaged by the company, despite their continuing to garner excellent reviews.
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Walker joined the chorus of the smaller of D'Oyly Carte's two companies on tour in 1924. Soon he was filling in for baritone roles such as
Captain Corcoran in
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325:, Walker as Alfred P. Doolittle and Roberts as Mrs. Eynsford-Hill. They then settled in Sydney. Walker later appeared in the Williamson production of
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for the remainder of the season. His total of 35 Savoy Opera roles while a member of the D'Oyly Carte Opera
Company is the company's all-time record.
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267:, as they approached a restaurant. They were not seriously hurt, but just before they went on stage that evening as Wilfred and Elsie in
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520:, New York: The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of New York, January 1982, Vol. XLIV, No. 5; and November 1984, Vol. XLVII, No. 2
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287:, Ireland, in 1949, when D'Oyly Carte asked him to step in as an emergency replacement, initially filling in as Grosvenor in
44:. Between 1932 and 1939 Walker was married to D'Oyly Carte chorister Ena Martin. He married the company's principal soprano
41:
32:, (18 November 1897 – 26 August 1989) was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in the
311:, as they did for extended tours every five or six years, Walker sang his familiar roles, as well as Dick Deadeye in
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123:
307:, and toured Australia and New Zealand throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. When the Williamsons played
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and presented
Gilbert and Sullivan in two-person entertainments throughout the United States and Canada.
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133:. He transferred to D'Oyly Carte's principal company in 1927, playing Antonio, and, from 1929, Guron in
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In 1942, Walker succeeded
Granville as principal "heavy" baritone, playing the Sergeant of Police in
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65:. His total of thirty-five Savoy Opera roles is the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's all-time record.
259:, on 31 July 1944. Earlier that month, the two found themselves very close to an exploding German
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commented, "Richard Walker has the best chance of the soloists, and takes full advantage of it."
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352:, Australia, at the age of 91. His widow later returned to England, where she died in 2010.
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during the company's 1932–33 London season. From 1935 he shared the role of
Bouncer in
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702:
Information about D'Oyly Carte members who performed with the J. C. Williamson company
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583:, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of New York, Vol. LXXV, No. 5, p. 2, January 2011
500:, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of New York, Vol. LXXV, No. 5, p. 3, January 2011
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After his last season with D'Oyly Carte, Walker and Roberts were engaged by the
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After leaving the company, Walker and Roberts were engaged in Australia by
331:. In 1967, he joined the Elizabethan Theatre Company, playing Frosch in
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669:, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of New York, beginning December 1980.
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Prestige, Colin. "Old Favourites: Richard Walker and Helen Roberts",
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The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas
202:. Roles in which he occasionally deputised for Fancourt or
192:. He also took on the small roles of Major Murgatroyd in
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and Second Citizen, and the next year, Second Yeomen in
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Walker's recordings with D'Oyly Carte were Antonio in
55:, Walker began his career in touring in concerts and
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J. C. Williamson Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company
188:, and from Usher to Counsel for the Plaintiff in
328:A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
160:, Guron, and Antonio, which he performed in a
127:. He also played Giorgio and then Antonio in
697:Description of J. C. Williamson Opera Company
407:, 22 December 2003, retrieved 15 January 2011
405:Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
184:. In 1940 he switched from Bouncer to Cox in
178:. In 1937 he added the role of the Notary in
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692:Memories of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
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540:, vol. 60, no. 7, 14 February 1948, p. 44
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214:, Earl Mountararat and Private Willis in
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496:"Helen Betty Roberts Walker 1912–2010",
747:Military personnel from Nottinghamshire
732:20th-century British male opera singers
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653:Rollins, Cyril; R. John Witts (1961).
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646:The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion
16:English singer and actor (1897–1989)
752:20th-century British Army personnel
487:, Vol. X No. 1, May 1971, pp. 26–27
648:. London: W.H. Allen & Co Ltd.
434:Rollins and Witts, pp. 152 and 154
425:Rollins and Witts, pp. 157 and 151
14:
608:Rollins and Witts, pp. xi and xiv
230:, the title role and Pooh-Bah in
661:Walker, Richard (1980). Memoir:
443:"Programmes: 'The Gondoliers'",
25:Walker as the Sergeant of Police
95:. He served for a time in the
737:Musicians from Nottinghamshire
657:. London: Michael Joseph, Ltd.
372:(1949). Reviewing the former,
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1:
467:Rollins and Witts, pp. 167–73
458:Rollins and Witts, pp. 156–66
271:, Walker proposed marriage.
224:, Sir Roderic Murgatroyd in
87:Richard Walker was born in
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742:Coldstream Guards soldiers
42:D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
558:Rollins and Witts, p. 173
549:Rollins and Witts, p. 172
533:Yeoman (sic) of the Guard
529:See, e.g., Francis, Bob.
416:Rollins and Witts, p. 145
366:(1927), and Boatswain in
449:, 9 December 1932, p. 19
206:were King Hildebrand in
315:and Sergeant Meryll in
269:The Yeomen of the Guard
249:The Pirates of Penzance
238:The Yeomen of the Guard
220:, Colonel Calverley in
212:The Pirates of Penzance
200:The Yeomen of the Guard
157:The Pirates of Penzance
124:The Yeomen of the Guard
119:Lieutenant of the Tower
240:, and Don Alhambra in
236:, Wilfred Shadbolt in
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727:People from Mansfield
644:Ayre, Leslie (1972).
620:, January 1928, p. 23
299:Australia and touring
210:, the Pirate King in
51:After serving in the
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531:"Broadway Openings:
309:Gilbert and Sullivan
680:Photo of Walker in
663:A Man of Many Parts
567:Rollins and Witts,
514:A Man of Many Parts
164:broadcast from the
599:, 15 December 2010
107:D'Oyly Carte years
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667:The Palace Peeper
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518:The Palace Peeper
512:Walker, Richard.
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265:Piccadilly Circus
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722:1989 deaths
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186:Cox and Box
171:Cox and Box
711:Categories
638:References
356:Recordings
342:Eisenhower
233:The Mikado
62:The Mikado
538:Billboard
446:The Times
227:Ruddigore
89:Mansfield
48:in 1944.
40:with the
682:Iolanthe
628:See also
593:"Walker"
313:Pinafore
289:Patience
285:Limerick
253:Patience
222:Patience
217:Iolanthe
195:Patience
117:and the
34:baritone
569:passim
350:Sydney
317:Yeomen
261:rocket
101:revues
57:revues
382:Notes
263:near
174:with
690:at
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403:at
283:in
162:BBC
121:in
713::
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505:^
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103:.
91:,
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