Louise Caselotti

Louise Caselotti (August 23, 1910-July 13, 1999) was an American mezzo soprano or contralto.

Biography

Caselotti sang in various operatic productions, as well as performing on radio and even experimental television broadcasts in the 1930s for CBS. She dubbed the voices of several leading Hollywood actresses in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Later she married attorney Richard "Eddie" Bagarozy and lived in a Riverside Drive apartment in Manhattan. Bagarozy wanted to start his own opera company, but ultimately found the enterprise beyond his abilities. Nevertheless, he planted the seeds for what ultimately became the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Caselotti and Bagarozy managed the career of a promising Greek-American soprano, Maria Callas, and introduced her to the Metropolitan Opera's general director Edward Johnson. Caselotti was Callas' vocal coach during 1946 and 1947. [Anne Edwards, "Maria Callas: An Intimate Biography", St. Martin's Press, 2001]

Caselotti's sister, Adriana, was the voice of Snow White in Walt Disney's 1937 Technicolor animated feature.

Caselotti later coached other singers. Her students included billionaire industrialist Gordon Getty, whom she accompanied at a private party in Sausalito, California in early 1976, prior to his unsuccessful professional debut. [Eyewitness account by Robert E. Nylund]

She died in Malibu, California at the age of 88. [angelfire.com/ab/day/aug22.htm]

References