John Reardon (April 8, 1930April 16, 1988) ( aged 58 ) was an American baritone and actor who was noted for his performances on television, including many appearances on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

children's television show ''

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001, and was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series ''Misterogers'' deb ...

''. Making his debut 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 ...

in 1954, he sang 33 roles with them until 1972, returning in 1983 for performances as Danilo in ''The Merry Widow''. Reardon was a member of the

New York Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

from 1965 until 1977, appearing in such operas as '' Carmen'' and '' Jenufa''. In 1967, Reardon created the role of Orin Mannon (the equivalent of Orestes in Aeschylus' ''Oresteia'') in the world premiere of Marvin David Levy's ''

Mourning Becomes Electra ''Mourning Becomes Electra'' is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932, starring Lee Baker ...

''. His last performance at the Met was as Papageno in ''The Magic Flute'' on April 6, 1977. He co-starred with

Phil Silvers Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly sixty years. Silvers achieved major popu ...

on Broadway in the Jule Styne musical '' Do Re Mi'', introducing the standard song " Make Someone Happy". He also appeared on Broadway in ''New Faces of 1956'' and Gian Carlo Menotti's ''

The Saint of Bleecker Street ''The Saint of Bleecker Street'' is an opera in three acts by Gian Carlo Menotti to an original English libretto by the composer. It was first performed at the Broadway Theatre in New York City on December 27, 1954. David Poleri and Davis Cunni ...

''. He performed the role of Schaunard in the famous 1956 recording of ''

La Boheme LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham. In 1960 he created the main role of Mr. McC in a nine-minute opera '' Introductions and Good-Byes'' by

Lukas Foss Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor. Career Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...

, premiered on May 5, 1960, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

with

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

conducted by Leonard Bernstein. In 1969 he created the role of Dr. Stone in the premiere of Menotti's '' Help, Help, the Globolinks!'' at the

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby, oversaw the building of the first opera house on a newl ...

. Reardon was chosen by Igor Stravinsky to sing the role of Nick Shadow on the composer's second recording of his opera ''

The Rake's Progress ''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings '' A Rake's Prog ...

''. Reardon also appears on several of

Ben Bagley Ben Bagley (October 18, 1933 – March 21, 1998) was an American musical producer and record producer. Career Born in Burlington, Vermont, Bagley moved to New York during the early 1950s, and in 1955, at age 22, he produced his first hit, ''Shoe ...

's ''Painted Smiles'' "Revisited" albums. Reardon died of pneumonia in 1988, at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico at age 58.

References

External links

*
Brief biography of John Reardon
*Internet Broadway Database: http://ibdb.com/person.php?id=100913 1930 births 1988 deaths American male musical theatre actors American male television actors American operatic baritones Deaths from pneumonia in New Mexico Male actors from New York City Singers from New York City 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American male opera singers Classical musicians from New York (state) {{US-opera-singer-stub