Alfred Drake

Actor and baritone who played leading roles in landmark Broadway shows including "Oklahoma!" and "Kiss Me Kate." Drake's good-humored performance as Hajj, a street poet made Emir of Bagdad for a day, in the hit musical "Kismet" won him a well-deserved Tony in 1954. A commanding presence, Drake also performed well in straight drama, including several Shakesperean roles. He made regular TV appearances in the 1950s, sometimes in broadcast versions of his stage successes; the most notable of his few film roles was Claudius opposite Richard Burton's "Hamlet" (1964).