Andy Williams, who charmed audiences with his mellow delivery of songs like Moon River and Can't Take My Eyes Off of You in the 1950s and 60s, has died at his home in Branson, Missouri, his family said Wednesday. He was 84.
The blue-eyed Williams, who continued touring and drawing crowds into his 80s, died yesterday evening after a year-long battle with bladder cancer, his family said in a statement.
Williams had 18 gold record and three platinum hits and in his peak years was a regular on television with his own variety series.
Williams was born on December 3rd, 1927, in tiny Wall Lake, Iowa, and was singing professionally with three older brothers at age 8. The Williams Brothers had steady work on radio and even sang back-up on Bing Crosby's 1944 hit Swinging on a Star.
Williams went solo after the group broke up in 1951, drew attention with his appearances on The Tonight Show and began recording. His first No. 1 hit, Butterfly, came in 1957.
Later hits included Born Free, Days of Wine and Roses, The Shadow of Your Smile, Can't Get Used to Losing You, Solitaire, Music to Watch Girls By, Can't Take My Eyes Off of You and the theme from the 1970 movie hit Love Story.
He came upon his signature song when asked to sing Moon River at the 1962 Academy Awards ceremony. Audrey Hepburn had performed the song in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's.
"I still love it, as many times as I've done it," Williams told a British newspaper in 2007.
"It has a great melody and wonderful lyrics. It's not a bad song to have. It could have been 'Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.' We forgot to do it one night and 27 people wanted their money back."
Williams' first wife was Claudine Longet, a Folies Bergere dancer he married in 1961, and they had three children before divorcing. After their split, Williams supported Longet when she was charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend, skier Spider Sabich, in 1976 in Colorado. She was convicted of negligent homicide after claiming the gun went off accidentally.
In 1992, Williams built his own 2,000-seat dinner theatre in Branson, a city of 10,000 people that had become a regional entertainment center featuring more than 30 theatres, most of which cater to country music acts. He performed there about 20 weeks a year while also putting on a Christmas tour in the United States and occasional tour of Britain.
Williams was a Christmas fixture on US television, dressed casually in a trademark sweater, and he recorded several Christmas albums. In 2006 the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers ranked his Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow as the sixth most frequently performed Christmas song and It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year as No. 11.
Williams had a strong following in Britain, where his career was revived in the late 1990s when Can't Take My Eyes Off of You and Music to Watch Girls By were used in television commercials.
In 1991, Williams married Debbie Haas and they lived in Branson and La Quinta, California.
Williams was a close friend of the powerful Kennedy political family and sang The Battle Hymn of the Republic at Robert F Kennedy's funeral after the US senator from New York was assassinated during the 1968 presidential campaign.
Williams' love of golf was so intense that for several years he hosted a professional tournament that bore his name.