William (1931) Walker

American baritone with the Metropolitan Opera (1962–1980) whose singing career included performances at the White House, at Carnegie Hall and other concert venues across North America and Europe.

In 1960, “Bill Walker” made his Broadway debut as Tattoo in Wildcat, a musical comedy starring Lucille Ball. During his 18 seasons at the Met, William Walker gave more than 360 performances, singing the role of Marcello in La bohème more than 30 times. His many other roles included Valentin in Faust and Prince Yeletsky in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades.

Walker performed at the White House during the Johnson and Carter administrations. In 1976, he performed as a representative of the United States in Reykjavík, Iceland; at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm; and in both Warsaw and Łódź, in Poland.

From 1969 to 1976, Walker gave more than 250 solo recitals in the United States and Canada, performing classical operatic arias, art songs and American musical show stoppers including "Soliloquy" from Carousel and "Surrey With The Fringe On Top" from Oklahoma!. He retired from singing in 1982. He served as General Director of the Fort Worth Opera, 1991-2002.

Walker married in 1957, four children and three grandchildren. He died on 10 April 2010.