Alexander Girardi

Alexander Girardi (pronounced [dʒiˈrardi]) (5 December 1850 – 20 April 1918) was an Austrian actor and tenor singer in operettas.

Against his stepfather's wishes, he joined the amateur theatre Die Tonhalle, where his acting talent was discovered; this led to an engagement at the Vienna Strampfer-Theater [de].

Two months before his death in 1918, he was called to the Burgtheater in Vienna to play the role of Fortunatus Wurzel in Ferdinand Raimunds's Der Bauer als Millionär [de].

He worked in the tradition of Ferdinand Raimund and Johann Nestroy, and he made a significant contribution to the popular Vienna operetta.

Girardi created the roles of Blasoni in Johann Strauss's Cagliostro in Wien (1875), Andredl in Carl Millöcker's Das verwunschene Schloss [de] (1878), Jan Janicki in Millöcker's Der Bettelstudent (1882), Benozzo in Millöcker's Gasparone (1884), Kálmán Zsupán in Strauss's The Gypsy Baron (1885), Adam in Carl Zeller's Der Vogelhändler (1891), the title role in Edmund Eysler's Bruder Straubinger (1903), and Pali Rácz in Emmerich Kálmán’s Der Zigeunerprimas (1912).