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Texas
| Features | People
Ten Thing you
should know about
Jules Bledsoe
1897-1943
by John Troesser
Photos courtesy The Texas Collection,
Baylor University |
Jules Bledsoe |
1. Born in Waco,
Texas in 1897, his full name was Julius Lorenzo Cobb Bledsoe.
2. He was the Central Texas Academy's valedictorian in 1914, and studied
medicine at Columbia University in New York City in the early 1920s.
3. While at Columbia, he studied voice and his singing debut was April
20, 1924.
4. During a short career lasting less than twenty years, Bledsoe was
praised for his ability to sing in several languages and for his vocal
control. His career ranged from vaudeville to radio and motion pictures.
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| 5.
His role as "Joe" in Jerome Kern's Showboat made "Ol' Man River" an
American classic. |
Jules Bledsoe
in the 1930s |
| 6.
Bledsoe performed with the Boston Symphony, the BBC Symphony Orchestra,
The Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Cleveland Stadium Opera,
the Chicago Opera Company and the NYC Cosmopolitan Opera Company.
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Bledsoe as
Amonasro in Aïda |
7. He performed the title role in the opera The Emperor
Jones, the role of Amonasro in Verdi's Aïda and even appeared (in
whiteface) as Canio in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci.
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Bledsoe as Canio
in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci |
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8.
In the early 1940s he worked in Hollywood playing in roles beneath
his abilities. He played the part of Kalu in Drums of the Congo,
and made other (mostly forgettable) films.
9. He wrote an opera, Bondage, based on Uncle Tom's Cabin and a
set of four songs for voice and orchestra called African Suite.
10. Bledsoe died on July 14, 1943, in Hollywood, after performing
during a war bond drive. He is buried in Waco's
Greenwood Cemetery where his tombstone is inscribed with music and
lyrics from Ol' Man River.
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Jules
Bledsoe with his dog |
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