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Howard Keel, star of hit musicals such as Kiss Me Kate, Annie Get Your Gun and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and the television series Dallas, has died aged 85.
The US actor, born Harold Clifford Leek, died on Sunday morning at his Palm Springs home. Keel’s first job was as a singing waiter in Los Angeles, earning $15 a week, before he went on to star in Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals such as Oklahoma! and Carousel on stage in London and New York.
He later signed a contract with MGM, which launched him as a major star and paired him with leading ladies such as Doris Day, Kathryn Grayson and Jane Powell.
Keel joined the cast of Dallas in 1981 as Clayton Farlow, the second husband of Miss Ellie Ewing, a role he played until the show ended in 1991.
