Lawrence Tibbett - Later Years and Death

Later Years and Death

In later years Tibbett served as host of a radio show featuring recordings of operatic singers. He leavened matters with reminiscences of his own stage experiences. Plagued by severe arthritis and a severe drinking problem, he aged prematurely as his health worsened. He died on July 15, 1960, after hitting his head on a table during a fall in his apartment. The Time obituary said of him: "Tibbett had a big, bronzelike, dramatically eloquent voice that combined ringing power with remarkable agility ... he left behind not only the echoes of a great voice but the memory of a performer who could feel equally at home with high art and popular entertainment, suggesting that there is a magical link between the two."

Tibbett's operatic recordings made in the United States during the 1920s and '30s are regarded as among the finest of that period. Many of them are available on CD re-issues. A comprehensive story of his personal life and musical career, Dear Rogue: A Biography of the American Baritone Lawrence Tibbett, by Hertzel Weinstat and Bert Wechsler was published in 1996 by Amadeus Press of Portland, Oregon.