Richard Crooks
Richard Alexander Crooks (June 26, 1900 – September 29, 1972) was an American tenor and a leading star at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, known for his French and Italian roles.
Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Crooks began as a concert singer and gave the American premiere of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. He made his operatic debut in Hamburg in 1927 as Cavaradossi in Tosca, sang in Berlin, and returned to the United States for his American debut in Philadelphia in 1930. He became a Met favorite and hosted The Voice of Firestone radio program from 1928 to 1945, performing arias, patriotic songs, folk tunes, and popular numbers like “People Will Say We're in Love.” He retired from performing in early 1945 due to health problems, though he continued to sing at his church and elsewhere.
Crooks lived with his childhood sweetheart, spent his later years in Portola Valley, California, and filled a room with autographed photos of singers, conductors, and presidents. He admired Enrico Caruso and Jussi Björling. He made many recordings for Victor and RCA Victor, including Wagner arias from 1928, the 1934 recording of Die schöne Müllerin, and Panis angelicus in 1942. He participated in a famous 1940 Met radio broadcast of Faust and remained active in recordings through the 1960s. Diagnosed with cancer in the mid-1960s, he died in Portola Valley in 1972 at the age of 72. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1648 Vine Street, though the star’s current status is unclear.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:12 (CET).