Harold Clifford Keel, known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor
and singer born in 1919 in Gillespie, Illinois. His first public performance
occurred in 1941 in Handel's oratorio Saul. Keel made his Broadway debut in 1945
in Carousel and later took over the lead role of Curly in Oklahoma!. He starred
in MGM musicals including Annie Get Your Gun (1950) and Show Boat (1951). Keel
played Clayton Farlow in the television series Dallas from 1981 to 1991. His
albums included And I Love You So (1984), which reached number 6 in the UK
charts. Keel died in 2004.