Earl William Sauvain(1920-2014)

Earl William Sauvain, singer-actor, was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1920, and moved to Manhattan in 1946. He was a resident of Andover Township, and Newton, New Jersey for 29 years. Immediately following his US Navy service in WWII, Richard Rodgers cast him in the original production of Annie Get Your Gun, and he was the tenor star of the first Rodgers and Hammerstein National Concert Tour, previewing at New York's Lewisohn Stadium. As Earl William, he was featured in six Broadway productions, which included Ethel Merman, Bob Fosse, Carl Reiner, Bert Lahr, Jack Albertson, and many other luminaries. Earl appeared with Nelson Eddy in the first color-TV musical, The Desert Song on NBC in 1955, and was a guest soloist with the Chicago, Cleveland, and Kansas City Symphonies. His national tours included the American Album of Familiar Music, the Goldovsky Opera Company, and he was a member of the New York City Opera Company.

Earl 's beloved wife of 57 years, Lillian (Murphy) Sauvain performed the prima donna roles opposite Earl in the 1952 Broadway production of Gilbert and Sullivan, and continued to be his co-star for many years of professional engagements.