Walter Midgley

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Walter Midgley (1914 - 18 September 1980) was an English operatic tenor.

He was an internationally acclaimed singer, who often performed with his wife Gladys Midgley in operetta on radio and in the theatre.

His daughter Maryetta Midgley and his son Vernon Midgley have become accomplished singers in their own right.

He appeared with his wife and children on the long-running BBC Radio programme "Friday Night is Music Night".

In 1948 during Rigoletto at Covent Garden while he was singing 'Questa o quella' Walter got the end of his moustache caught in his mouth and gradually sucked it in. When he finally finished the aria the whole thing was stuck in his windpipe, but he managed to blow it out right across the orchestra pit. [Great Operatic Disasters by Huge Vickers - page 24]

[edit] Literature

• D. Brook, Singers of Today (Revised Edition - Rockliff, London 1958), 140-144.