Harold Lang (dancer)

Harold Lang
Born(1920-12-21)December 21, 1920
Daly City, California
DiedJuly 26, 1985(1985-07-26) (aged 64)
Chico, California, US
Occupations
  • Dancer
  • singer
  • actor
Known forProfessor of Dance at California State University, Chico

Harold Lang (December 21, 1920 – July 26, 1985) was an American dancer, singer and actor.[1]

Early life

Harold Lang was born on December 21, 1920 in Daly City, California. As a youth, he delivered telegrams in the San Francisco area. He participated in several dance studies but took an extended hiatus for several years. In 1940, while delivering a telegram backstage at a San Francisco theater during a ballet rehearsal by the San Francisco Opera Ballet, he was inspired to resume training the next day under Willam Christensen at the San Francisco Opera Ballet.

Career

Lang began his professional career as a ballet dancer, dancing with the Kosloff Ballet before making his professional debut in 1938 with the San Francisco Ballet[1] and then went on to perform with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and the American Ballet Theatre (then called Ballet Theatre) from 1941 to 1945.[1][2] While at ABT, he originated roles in Jerome Robbins' Fancy Free and Interplay, in addition to performing in ballets by George Balanchine, David Lichine, Léonide Massine and Antony Tudor.

Beginning in the late 1940s, Lang transitioned from ballet to musical theater. He made his Broadway debut in the short-lived Mr. Strauss Goes to Boston (1945), then had more success as a soloist in Three to Make Ready (1946) and Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'! (1948). Lang's first major role, however, was as Bill Calhoun/Lucentio in the original production of Kiss Me, Kate (1948) — although he did not always get along with composer Cole Porter.[3] His second major Broadway appearance was the role of Joey in the 1952 revival of Pal Joey.

Other Broadway appearances included Make a Wish (1951), Shangri-La (1956), Ziegfeld Follies of 1957, and I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962). Lang also toured as the Jester in Once Upon a Mattress.

In the long-running Kiss Me, Kate, Lang (as Bill) performed his showstopping solo number, "Bianca", and also performed "We Open in Venice" (as Lucentio) with Alfred Drake (as Petruchio), Patricia Morison (as Katharine) and Lisa Kirk (as Bianca). Lang also performed "Tom, Dick or Harry" (as Lucentio) with Edwin Clay (as Gremio), Charles Wood (as Hortensio) and Lisa Kirk (as Bianca).

Although he appeared on television in the early 1950s, Lang made no commercial films. It was reported 20th Century-Fox wanted him for the role of Vera-Ellen's character's boyfriend Mike in Three Little Girls in Blue (1946) but he had to refuse because of a stage commitment in Three to Make Ready (1946).

The New York Public Library has archival films of Lang's work in Fancy Free and Interplay. He portrayed John Sappington Marmaduke "Bubber" Dinwiddie, the brother of Martha Dinwiddie Butterfield in the Patrick Dennis mock-bio First Lady. Lang is included in Ben Bagley's 'Jerome Kern Revisited' album, singing four songs. Both Arthur Laurents and Gore Vidal reported having affairs with Lang.[4]

From 1970 until his death in 1985, Lang was a professor of dance at California State University in Chico, California.[5]

Death

Lang died on July 26, 1985, at the age of 64 from pancreatic cancer in Chico, California.[6]

Stage appearances

Discography

Filmography

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Harold Lang". The Official Masterworks Broadway Site. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Harold Lang". archives.nypl.org. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  3. ↑ William McBrien, Cole Porter (New York: Vintage, 2000), p. 310.
  4. ↑ Arthur Laurents, Original Story by: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000), 47 ff., 233; Gore Vidal, Palimpsest (New York: Penguin, 1995), pp. 130–32.
  5. ↑ Timeline, harold-lang.com. Accessed July 15, 2023.
  6. ↑ Archives, L. A. Times (August 4, 1985). "Harold Lang, Noted Ballet and Broadway Dancer, Dies at 64". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.