Nelson Ackerman Eddy (June 29, 1901 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor and baritone singer who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs.

He was one of the first "crossover" stars, a superstar appealing both to shrieking bobby soxers and opera purists, and in his heyday, he was the highest paid singer in the world.

His father occasionally moonlighted as a stagehand at the Providence Opera House, sang in the church choir, played the drums, and performed in local productions such as H.M.S.

Throughout his teens, Eddy studied voice and imitated the recordings of baritones such as Titta Ruffo, Antonio Scotti, Pasquale Amato, Giuseppe Campanari, and Reinald Werrenrath.

In 1927, Eddy borrowed some money and followed his teacher to Dresden for further study in Europe, which was then considered essential for serious American singers.

[4] At Carnegie Hall in New York City, Christmas 1931, he sang in the world premiere of Maria egiziaca (Mary in Egypt), unexpectedly conducted by the composer Ottorino Respighi himself when famed conductor Arturo Toscanini fell ill at the last minute.

Years later, when Toscanini visited the MGM lot in California, Eddy greeted him by singing a few bars of Maria egiziaca.

[4] Eddy continued in occasional opera roles until his film work made it difficult to schedule appearances the requisite year or two in advance.

Eddy was "discovered" by Hollywood when he substituted at the last minute for the noted diva Lotte Lehmann at a sold-out concert in Los Angeles on February 28, 1933.

Audience response was favorable, and he was cast as the male lead opposite the established star Jeanette MacDonald in the 1935 film version of Victor Herbert's 1910 operetta Naughty Marietta.

Under the name "Isaac Ackerman" he wrote a biopic screenplay about Chaliapin, in which he was to play the lead and also a young Nelson Eddy, but it was never produced.

He also recorded duets with his other screen partner, Risë Stevens (The Chocolate Soldier), and for albums with, among others, Nadine Conner, Doretta Morrow, Eleanor Steber, and Jo Stafford.

The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner on October 4, 1964, noted: "Nelson Eddy continues to roll along, physically and vocally indestructible.

At the age of 63 and after 42 years of professional singing, Eddy demonstrates not much change has occurred in his romantic and robust baritone, which made him America's most popular singer in the early '30s".

In late 1943, he went on a two-month, 35,000-mile tour, giving concerts for military personnel in Belém and Natal, Brazil; Accra, Gold Coast; Aden; Asmara, Eritrea; Cairo (where he met King Farouk); Tehran; Casablanca; and the Azores.

Because he spoke fluent German, having studied opera in Dresden during the 1920s, his work as an Allied spy was invaluable until his cover was blown with a near-fatal assignment in Cairo.

Besides his many guest appearances, he hosted The Voice of Firestone (1936), The Chase and Sanborn Hour (1937–1939), and Kraft Music Hall (1947–1948), among other programs.

It was in a series of comedy routines with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy on the Chase and Sanborn Hour that Eddy's name became associated with the song "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny", which was also included in the film Maytime.

On March 31, 1933, he performed the role of Gurnemanz in a broadcast of Richard Wagner's opera Parsifal with Rose Bampton, conducted by Leopold Stokowski.

In 1952, he recorded a pilot for a sitcom, Nelson Eddy's Backyard, with Jan Clayton, but it failed to find a network slot.

Both appearances were highly successful but MacDonald's health was failing and although there was talk of their hosting a TV variety show together, it did not happen.

It featured Gale Sherwood, Metropolitan Opera bass Salvatore Baccaloni, veteran film actor Otto Kruger, Broadway tenor Earl William and the dance team of Bambi Linn and Rod Alexander.

[16] The advent of television made inroads in the once-lucrative concert circuits, and in the early 1950s, Eddy considered future career options, eventually deciding to form a nightclub act.

"[19] In the biography Sweethearts by Sharon Rich, the author presents MacDonald and Eddy as continuing an adulterous affair after their marriages.

Newsreel footage from MacDonald's funeral shows Eddy as the last person exiting the chapel, circled by other celebrities, such as Lauritz Melchior, who offer him condolences.

[24] The boy was named Daniel Kendrick Eddy, and Nelson buried him (or his ashes) on private property in Ojai, California.

)[25] Forbidden to marry early on by MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer, MacDonald and Eddy performed an unofficial wedding ceremony at Lake Tahoe while filming Rose Marie.

[26] After their 1943 visit, Eddy wrote a lengthy diary entry about their trip and his love for her, calling her "my wife", which he did in private to the end of her life.

[27] On March 5, 1967, Eddy was performing at the Sans Souci Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida when he was stricken on stage with a cerebral hemorrhage.

[18] Eddy's meticulously annotated scores (some with his caricatures sketched in the margins) are now housed at Occidental College Special Collections in Los Angeles.