Legendary performer and School of Music lecturer William Warfield died Aug. 25 of heart failure at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, where he was recovering from a fall.
The 82-year-old bass baritone had won numerous awards throughout his long career and was best known for his rendition of “Old Man River” in the 1951 film version of “Show Boat.”
Colleagues said his ability to engage an audience was his greatest gift.
“Even when he was older and his voice wasn’t as strong as it used to be, he performed with the enthusiasm of a teenager and that was infectious,” said Kurt R. Hansen, a fellow lecturer in the School of Music. “I’ll miss that wonderful example that he gave of commitment to performing in an exciting way.”
Warfield began teaching at Northwestern in 1992 when Music Dean Bernard Dobroski approached him with a job offer.
“He served on the Chicago Lyric Opera board with me and he was teaching in San Antonio,” Dobroski said. “I told him he should be here in Chicago and offered him a position on the spot.”
After accepting the position, Warfield became the school’s voice of experience while teaching both undergraduate and graduate classes. He was scheduled to continue teaching this December.
“He brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table with the stories he was able to tell us,” said Stephen Noon, Music ’01. “He was always very engaging and he truly loved working with young singers.”
Known to his students as Uncle Bill, Warfield was active outside of the classroom as well. He frequently attended student recitals and performed on campus more than 50 times.
“He interacted with members of the marching band and went to all the ball games with us,” Dobroski said. “He was very much a part of campus even though he was in the vocal area, which was a specialization.”
Before coming to NU, Warfield already had established himself as a living legend. After earning a bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music and serving in the U.S. Army, he took a role in the Broadway production of “Call Me Mister.”
A 1950 recital at New York’s Town Hall catapulted him to stardom and led to his famous role in “Showboat.” His featured solo in the film remained his signature number for the rest of his career.
“Old Man River was like his anthem,” Hansen said. “When you called his answering machine, various versions of him singing that song would play.”
In addition to “Showboat,” Warfield was known for his stage portrayal of Porgy in Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess,” which toured internationally during the 1950s.
Warfield mastered other mediums as well, starring in the television production of Marc Connelly’s “The Green Pastures.” He won a 1984 Grammy award in the spoken word category for his narration of Aaron Copeland’s “A Lincoln Portrait.” He also published his autobiography, “William Warfield: My Music and My Life,” in 1992.
“We got to have him on the faculty at a time when almost every week he was flying off to get some lifetime honor, and he was very humble about all of it,” Hansen said. “Now we’ve lost the perspective that he brought from knowing all of those legendary people first hand.”
Warfield served as chairman of the voice department at the University of Illinois before retiring in 1990. He later served as a visiting professor at Illinois State University and the University of Texas at San Antonio.
A memorial concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, with performances by faculty, students and friends. Audio and video presentations will showcase Warfield’s vast body of work.
