Anita Darian 安妮塔·达里安

Anita Darian(April 26, 1927 – February 1, 2015)was an American singer and actress who had an extensive career from the 1950s to the 2010s.

A soprano, Darian performed roles with the New York City Opera and was a featured soloist with the New York Philharmonic. She also performed and recorded several roles from musicals, including Julie in Show Boat, a recording for Columbia Masterworks in 1962 with John Raitt, Barbara Cook, and William Warfield. She portrayed Lady Thiang in the 1960 revival of The King and I at New York City Center with Barbara Cook as Anna and Farley Grangeras the King. She made a number of classical recordings with various contemporary composers as well as solo albums for Fidelio Records and Kapp Records.

BornAnita Margaret EsgandarianinDetroit,MichiganofArmeniandescent.She was a 1945 graduate ofCooley High School. Anita later studied opera at theCurtis Institute of Musicin Philadelphia and theJuilliard Schoolin New York, but first came to popular attention as a featured singer with the short-livedSauter-Finegan jazz bandof the mid-1950s, with whom she recorded for RCA Victor.She settled in New York City and worked in everything from opera and classical recitals to television jingles and cartoon voice-overs. She appeared in several television productions of musicals and operas from the 1950s to the 1970s.Anita also sang the female soprano portion onThe Tokens' 1961 #1 hit "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".Her high counterpoint to the lead and backup singers was an astounding merging of her operatic training and the pop genre.

As late as 2012, she was featured in concerts honoring the Great American Songbook. Darian died on February 1, 2015, aged 87, at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, New York due to surgical complications.

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