Harve Presnell

About Harve Presnell

Who is it?: Actor, Soundtrack
Birth Day: September 14, 1933
Birth Place:  Modesto, California, United States
Died On: June 30, 2009(2009-06-30) (aged 75)\nSanta Monica, California, U.S.
Birth Sign: Libra
Occupation: Film and television actor; musical theatre and opera singer
Years active: 1956–2009

Harve Presnell Net Worth

Harve Presnell was born on September 14, 1933 in  Modesto, California, United States, is Actor, Soundtrack. By the time handsome, brawny baritone Harve Presnell arrived on the film scene, the "Golden Age" of musicals had long dissipated. Born in Modesto, California in 1933 and spending part of his youth on a family ranch near Yosemite Valley where he labored in the fields, it was discovered he had quite a voice at such a young age (7) and he became a soloist at his local church.He graduated from Modesto High School and received a USC sports scholarship, but moved quickly to singing at Lotte Lehmann's Academy of the West. At the age of 21, he coveted the lead in the American premiere of Darius Milhaud's "David". Initially trained for an operatic career, he spent three seasons singing throughout Europe with roles in "La Forza del Destino", "Un ballo in Maschera", "The Marriage of Figaro" and "Tosca". He also shared the musical stage with Dorothy Kirsten and Leontyne Price.Harve was performing nationally, including New York's Carnegie Hall in "Carmina Burana", when the opportunity for Broadway first came his way. Legendary composer Meredith Willson happened to catch an earful of the gifted singer in a "Gershwin Night" concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and, in the virile mold of Alfred Drake and Howard Keel, wrote the role of Johnny "Leadville" Brown in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" specifically for him. The Broadway musical, with Tammy Grimes as the spunky title heroine, was a resounding hit as Harve wrapped his glorious tonsils around such sturdy, wide-stanced songs as "Colorado, My Home" and "I'll Never Say No". Unlike Grimes, Presnell was granted the opportunity to recreate his rags-to-riches part, when the celluloid version of The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) came out with a bankable film star, the indomitable Debbie Reynolds, inhabiting the backwoods role. The film version was also hugely popular with audiences and Harve, with his terrific presence, seemed well on his way to stardom.There were precious few movie musicals, however, for Presnell to sink his teeth into and he quickly faded from view. He tried adjusting to straight dramatics with the rugged western The Glory Guys (1965) and sang again in the highly unworthy teen frolic When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965) with Connie Francis, but little else came in his direction. The disastrous film version of Paint Your Wagon (1969), hurt by the miscasting of leads Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood and Jean Seberg, was redeemed only by the presence of Presnell and his superb, moving rendition of "They Call the Wind Mariah".By the 70s, Harve was finished in films but gamely kept his momentum with Keel-like stock and touring leads in such productions as "Camelot", "The Sound of Music", "Annie Get Your Gun" and "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever", among others. He even played Rhett Butler in a 1972 musical version of "Gone With the Wind" at London's Drury Lane Theatre, but the production did not generate much of a stir. In 1979, Presnell served as a replacement in the Broadway musical "Annie" as Daddy Warbucks and wound up staying employed as the blustery but big-hearted moneybags for nearly 4 years on tour, also reprising the role in the failed 90s sequel, "Annie II: Miss Hannigan's Revenge" (1989), which was later reworked and retitled "Annie Warbucks" (1992). All tolled, it is estimated that Harve played the tycoon role over 2,000 times.More than 25 years had passed by the time Presnell returned to the movies as a brash and balding character actor. He struck pure gold as the implacable, ill-fated father-in-law of William H. Macy in the Coen Brothers' cult film hit, Fargo (1996). This success, in turn, led to meaty roles in Larger Than Life (1996), The Whole Wide World (1996), The Chamber (1996), Face/Off (1997), Giai Cuu Binh Nhì Ryan (1998) and The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), to name a few. Over the course of his career, he displayed a strong presence on TV as well with recurring roles on prime-time (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993)) and daytime (Ryan's Hope (1975). Presnell may have been born 10-20 years too late to have become a singing film star, but he suddenly had come back in spades to launch a whole new career as a noted character performer. At age 70+, he was unsinkable, vigorously steamrolling on TV (The Pretender (1996), Monk (2002) and ER (1994)) and in the films Mr. Deeds (2002), Old School (2003), Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and Evan Almighty (2007). His last series role was in the short-lived Andy Barker, P.I. (2007).Pancreatic cancer got the best of the actor in his final years. The twice-married Presnell with six children (Stephanie, Taylor, Etoile, Tulley, Shannon and Raine) succumbed to his illness at the St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California on June 30, 2009, at age 76.
Harve Presnell is a member of Actor

💰Harve Presnell Net worth: $14 Million

Some Harve Presnell images

Famous Quotes:

As an actor, Mr. Presnell promises much, and as a singer, he delivers. Here is one of the shiniest vocal accounts of the role yet. The actor is on the verge of suggesting that in his implausible way, the Don can bring a measure of grace to the world and fulfill that old impossible dream.

Biography/Timeline

1933

Presnell was born in 1933, in Modesto, California. He made his professional stage debut performing in an opera at the young age of sixteen. He attended the University of Southern California, earning a bachelor's degree in vocal performance.

1950

He went on to sing several more comprimario roles with the company that year, including the Jailer in the United States premiere of Francis Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites. During the late 1950s he made several appearances and recordings with both the Roger Wagner Chorale and the Philadelphia Orchestra, the latter under the baton of Eugene Ormandy.

1956

In 1956, Presnell co-starred with Herva Nelli in the American premiere of Darius Milhaud's opera David at the Hollywood Bowl. In 1960, he was a featured soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in another concert at the Bowl. In attendance at the concert was musical theater Composer Meredith Willson who was at that time in the midst of creating his musical on the life of Molly Brown, Titanic survivor. Willson contacted him after the concert and asked him to audition for him. Presnell complied and Wilson ended up offering him the role of "Leadville Johnny." At this point the musical was not completed and Wilson went on to compose much of the music for Leadville Johnny with Presnell's voice in mind.

1960

Presnell sang the baritone role in Eugene Ormandy's 1960 recording of Carmina Burana, released by Columbia/Sony on LP and CD. His earliest recordings were as a soloist with the Roger Wagner Chorale (Capitol) in the 1950s with the Chorale in the background particularly in the LP Joy to the World where he sang in "O Holy Night" and the LPs Folk Songs of the New World [Capitol P8324 (1955)] and Folk Songs of the Frontier [Capitol P8332 (1956)], where he sang, among other songs, "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" and "Streets of Laredo".

1965

He starred in two films in 1965: portraying Sol Rogers, a cavalry scout, in The Glory Guys and Danny Churchill, the romantic lead, in the musical film When the Boys Meet the Girls. He had one more sizable film role in the 1960s, the role of "Rotten Luck Willie" in Paramount's 1969 musical Western film Paint Your Wagon, singing "They Call the Wind Maria". The New York Times critic opined that Presnell's role "delivered the golden opportunity to sing the unforgettable ballad." Theater reviewer Thomas Hischak wrote "in one of the film's few pleasing moments, Harve Presnell gave full voice to They Call the Wind Mariah and it was lovely to hear". Referring to Eastwood and Marvin, film reviewer Brian W. Fairbanks wrote that "Harve Presnell steals both stars' thunder with a knockout version of the best song"

1984

In 1984, Presnell appeared as Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha in Darien, Connecticut, an appearance well received by The New York Times critic Alvin Klein, who wrote that Presnell was "a winning leading man", and wrote:

1996

His film career was revived when he played william H. Macy's testy father-in-law in Fargo (1996). Subsequent films included The Whole Wide World (1996), Larger than Life (1996), The Chamber (1996), Face/Off (1997), Julian Po (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998, as General George Marshall), Patch Adams (1998), Walking Across Egypt (1999), The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), The Family Man (2000), Escanaba in da Moonlight (2001), Mr. Deeds (2002), Super Sucker (2003), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), and Evan Almighty (2007).

2009

Presnell died on June 30, 2009, aged 75, from pancreatic cancer at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.