Willard Andelin

(1883-1959) Utah-born singer with a famously exceptional basso profundo voice and a varied career that began in the early 1890s with him singing in Salt Lake City with Mormon choirs. Between 1904 and 1907 he studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and with Alexander Heinemann (2) in Berlin, culminating in him becoming the first Utahn to win a European opera contract, with The Royal Opera Company in Hanover. Between 1911 and 1920 he was a member of the opera company of Lucy Gates, performed the basso role in early Salt Lake City productions of "The Messiah" and ran a vocal studio with his wife, Arvilla Clark Andelin, who was herself an accomplished singer. In 1918, they moved to Chicago and he continued to perform there and across the United States, as well as undertaking several lengthy European tours. He was a featured performer in the 1928 "Mikado of Jazz" touring troupe. In 1931 he became an original member of the popular "The Northerners" octet who would be heard for the next twenty years on their self-named WGN Radio Chicago program. He was also an early member of the station's "Chicago Theater of the Air" program. He was the father of actor and voiceover talent Jim Andelin.