Baritone leading man Howard Keel, 85, dies

LOS ANGELES — Howard Keel, the broad-shouldered baritone who romanced his way through a series of glittery MGM musicals such as "Kiss Me Kate" and "Annie Get Your Gun" and later revived his career with television's "Dallas," died Sunday. He was 85.

Keel died of colon cancer, according to his son, Gunnar.

Keel starred in Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals in New York and London before being signed to an MGM contract after World War II. The timing was perfect: He became a star with his first MGM film, playing Frank Butler to Betty Hutton's Annie Oakley in "Annie Get Your Gun."

Keel's size and lusty voice made him an ideal leading man for such stars as Esther Williams ("Pagan Love Song," "Texas Carnival," "Jupiter's Darling"), Ann Blyth ("Rose Marie," "Kismet"), Kathryn Grayson ("Show Boat," "Lovely to Look At," "Kiss Me Kate") and Doris Day ("Calamity Jane").

When film studios went into a slump, MGM's musical factory was disbanded. Keel kept busy on the road in such surefire attractions as "Man of La Mancha," "South Pacific," "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."

As Clayton Farlow, husband of "Miss Ellie" Ewing (Barbara Bel Geddes), Keel remained with "Dallas" until it folded in 1991.