John Brownlee (baritone)

[2] As a boy, he became a junior naval cadet in the Royal Australian Navy, serving during World War I.

His debut took place at Covent Garden on 8 June 1926, in the performance of La bohème in which Melba made her farewell appearance.

After retiring from singing, Brownlee became a stage director, making his debut at the Met on 27 November 1958 in a performance of Die Fledermaus.

Brownlee joined the voice faculty of Manhattan School of Music in 1953 and headed the opera department.

[8] He married former Countess Donna Carla Oddone di Feletto in Paris on 29 November 1928, and the couple had a daughter and two sons.