Ann Ayars (23 July 1918 – 27 February 1995) was an American soprano and actress. Early in her career she acted in several TV series and non musical films. Later, she sang with the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

(NYCO), and became known worldwide when she sang and acted the part of Antonia in the 1951

British film The United Kingdom has had a significant film industry for over a century. While film production reached an all-time high in 1936, the "golden age" of British cinema is usually thought to have occurred in the 1940s, during which the directors D ...

The Tales of Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died ...

''. From 1968 to 1987 she taught voice and piano and staged 19 full-length opera productions at

Mt. San Jacinto College Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC) is a public community college in Riverside County, California. It is part of the California Community College system and consists of five locations: San Jacinto (San Jacinto Campus), Menifee (Menifee Valley Camp ...

in California, where she was made a professor emerita.

Biography

Ann Ayars was born on 23 July 1918 in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

. She began as a singer in the late 1930s and started acting in the early 1940s. She had parts in several television series, including ''Batman'', ''Hazel'', ''Mission: Impossible'', ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'', ''Perry Mason'', ''The Virginian'' and ''The Monroes''. She starred as Cholita in the 1941 film '' Fiesta'' and in 1942 she was Cynthia Cookie Charles in '' Dr. Kildare's Victory''. Also in 1942, she appeared as Constance Selden in ''

Apache Trail The Apache Trail in Arizona was a stagecoach trail that ran through the Superstition Mountains. It was named the Apache Trail after the Apache Indians who originally used this trail to move through the Superstition Mountains. The historic A ...

'', Kaaren de Relle in ''

Nazi Agent ''Nazi Agent'' is a 1942 American spy film directed by Jules Dassin, in his first feature-length film for MGM. It stars Conrad Veidt playing identical twins, one loyal to the United States (U.S.), the other a dedicated German Nazi. Plot The U. ...

'' and Juliette in ''

Reunion in France ''Reunion in France'' is a 1942 American war film distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Joan Crawford, John Wayne, and Philip Dorn in a story about a woman in occupied France who, learning her well-heeled lover has German connections, aids ...

''. In 1943 she was Mrs Sandoval in '' The Human Comedy'' and Susan Thayer in ''

The Youngest Profession ''The Youngest Profession'' is a 1943 film directed by Edward Buzzell, and starring Virginia Weidler, Edward Arnold, John Carroll, Scotty Beckett, and Agnes Moorehead. Based on a short story series and book written by Lillian Day, it contains c ...

''. She left Hollywood in 1943 to join the newly formed

, becoming its leading lyric soprano. Her operatic roles included Monica in ''

The Medium ''The Medium'' is a short (one-hour-long) two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946. The opera's first profes ...

'', Mimi in ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions ''quadri'', ''tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe G ...

'' and Violetta in ''

La traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...

''. Her friend,

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

Frances Bible Frances Lillian Bible (January 26, 1919 – January 29, 2001) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who had a thirty-year career at the New York City Opera between 1948 and 1978. She also made a number of opera appearances with other companies t ...

, said "Her work with the opera has inspired many young singers, many of whom went on to professional careers." Courtesy of MGM, Ayars helped entertain the troops in February 1944 at

Camp Roberts, California Camp Roberts is a California National Guard post in central California, located on both sides of the Salinas River in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties, now run by the California Army National Guard. It was opened in 1941 and is named afte ...

, starring in '' Rio Rita'' along with

Janis Paige Janis Paige (born Donna Mae Tjaden; September 16, 1922) is an American retired actress and singer. Born in Tacoma, Washington, she began singing in local amateur shows at the age of five. After high school, she moved to Los Angeles, where she b ...

. She had a star part as Antonia in the 1951

Powell and Pressburger The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell (1905–1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988)—together often known as The Archers, the name of their production company—made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. ...

film ''

'', which was based on the opéra fantastique by

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera '' ...

. Although all the parts in the film are sung, only

Robert Rounseville Robert Rounseville (25 March 19146 August 1974) was an American actor and tenor, who appeared in opera, operetta, Broadway musicals, and motion pictures. Career Rounseville was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts. He made his Broadway debut in a sma ...

(Hoffmann) and Ayars sang their own parts, the others being dubbed. In 1968 she returned to California and took a post teaching voice and piano at

in San Jacinto, California, where she staged 19 full-length opera productions. She retired in 1987. On 27 February 1995 she died at her home in

Hemet Hemet is a city in the San Jacinto Valley in Riverside County, California. It covers a total area of , about half of the valley, which it shares with the neighboring city of San Jacinto. The population was 89,833 at the 2020 census. The foundi ...

Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...

following complications from diabetes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayars, Ann 1918 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American singers American operatic sopranos Actresses from Beverly Hills, California People from Hemet, California 20th-century American women singers Singers from California Classical musicians from California