Earl Wrightson was an Emmy award-winning American singer/actor/entertainer who was a familiar face in the early days of television. He was a regular on TV’s The American Musical Theatre (a daytime series broadcast Sunday afternoons on CBS in the 1950s), Girl About Town (1948-49), Paul Whiteman's Goodyear Revue (1949-52), The Earl Wrightson Show (1948-52), and made numerous appearances on The Bell Telephone Hour. The Earl Wrightson Show -- the title of which changed several times over the run of the series -- was a 15-minute musical program that preceded the popular Arthur Godfrey and His Friends. Earl's show was also known as Earl Wrightson at Home (September 1949), At Home (October 1949), At Home Show (1950) and finally, Masland at Home Party (1951).

For half a century, Wrightson was heard on radio, seen on live television and sang at the nation's concert halls, including Carnegie Hall. On radio he was heard regularly on such series as The Prudential Family Hour and The Coca-Cola Hour. The baritone's musical theater credits include many classics such as Camelot, Kiss Me Kate, The Sound of Music, Man of La Mancha, Paint Your Wagon, Fiddler on the Roof and Firebrand of Florence on Broadway, which was written by Kurt Weill and featured Lotte Lenya.

The son of a Methodist minister, Wrightson began his career as a page boy for Dave Garroway, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. and Gordon MacRae. Lois Hunt was his companion and singing partner toward the end of his career.

Date and place of birth: January 1, 1911, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Date, place and cause of death: March 7, 1993, East Norwich, Long Island, New York, U.S.A. (Heart failure)