Christine Johnson Smith R.I.P.

[Reza]

LA Times 6/11/2010

Christine Johnson Smith, Broadway singer starred in 'Carousel'

Christine Johnson Smith, 98, who originated the role of Nettie Fowler in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Carousel" when it debuted on Broadway in 1945, died Wednesday at her home in Owensboro, Ky. The Glenn Funeral Home confirmed her death but did not give the cause.

As Christine Johnson, she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1943 before taking the role in "Carousel." Richard Rodgers reportedly wrote the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" with Johnson in mind.

"You could hear sobs in the audience when I sang that song," she said later.

She was born in Hopkinsville, Ky., and moved to Owensboro as a teenager, according to the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer newspaper. A mezzo-contralto, she studied at the Nashville Conservatory of Music before moving to New York in 1937.

She married Dr. Robert W. Smith in 1949 and returned to Kentucky to raise a family. The couple had two daughters.

After marrying, Smith gave voice lessons in her home. Among her students was Florence Henderson, who went on to perform on Broadway and as Carol Brady on TV's " The Brady Bunch."