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The American tenor, Brian Sullivan, was born Harry Joseph Sullivan in Oakland, California (Took the name of Brian Sullivan to avoid confusion with another Broadway actor named Joseph Sullivan). After living in Salt Lake City, the family moved to Los Angeles, where he attended Manual Arts High School. His initial study of singing occurred late in his high school years. He went on to study voice at the University of Southern California and was a student of Lillian Backstrand-Wilson.
Unable to find openings in operas early in his career, Brian Sullivan delved into musical comedy productions and toured with the Ice Follies for one winter. In 1943, he gained performing experience with the American Music Theatre in Pasadena, California. His performances there led to a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studios, but that was interrupted when he went into the U.S. Army. He began his military service in the motor pool but soon was transferred to Special Services.
Brian Sullivan first appeared on Broadway in musicals. In 1946, he sang the role of Gaylord Ravenal in a revival of Show Boat in New York. He sang in 1946 in the premiere of Street Scene by Weill in Philadelphia. A year later, he first performed on Broadway in Street Scene. His audition for the Metropolitan Opera occurred during the run of Street Scene, and at the close of that production he was signed by the Central City Opera in Colorado to sing in its presentation of L.v. Beethoven's Fidelio.
Brian Sullivan sang in films, on radio, on television, and with the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as with other groups. He debuted at the New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1948, in the title role in Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes. He stayed until 1964 at this house, where he sang twenty roles in 122 performances, including Tamino, Don José, Narraboth, Lionel in Flotow's Martha, Rodolfo Des Grieux, Dimitrij in Boris Godunov and Andrej in Khovantchina. He also became "the first American singer in a generation to sing the title role in Wagner's Lohengrin." Avito in Montemezzi’s “Amore dei tre Re” in San Francisco in 1952 , and Don Carlos in Chicago in 1957 His repertoire included Ferrando, Edgardo, Alfredo, Pinkerton, Faust, Tannhauser, Erik, Florestan, Matteo in Arabella and Otello(!). He was heard frequently on The Bell Telephone Hour on radio and appeared often on The Voice of Firestone on television.
Brian Sullivan's screen debut came in an uncredited part in This Man's Navy (1945). He also had bit parts in Thrill of a Romance (1945) and Courage of Lassie (1946). In 1947, Columbia Records released a six-record album of music from Street Scene, with Sullivan and other cast members performing songs from the Broadway production.
Brian Sullivan married Marie Pauline Horn on April 2, 1938. They had three children. On June 17, 1969, Sullivan's body was found floating in Lake Geneva. He had been in Geneva, Switzerland, to sing the lead role of Siegfried in a production of Götterdämmerung at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. He had been missing for several days without him ever singing the role. |
