Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Claude Heater
(born October 25, 1927), is an American opera singer and writer on
religion. He began his career as a concert baritone in the United States
in 1954. He then sang as a baritone with opera houses in Europe from
1956 to 1961. He retrained his voice as a tenor, and from 1964 on had
great success in the dramatic tenor repertoire at major theatres
internationally. After retiring from the stage in the 1970s, he devoted
his time to the study of religion. He is also known for portraying the
role of Jesus in the 1959 film classic Ben-Hur. Born in Oakland,
California, Heater grew up in a Mormon family and at the age 19 served
as missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He
then served in the United States Armed Forces, after which he worked as
an usher in a theatre in Los Angeles while studying to be an opera
singer. He moved to New York City to study singing further and in 1951
he made his Broadway debut as a singer and juggler in the original cast
of Top Banana. In 1952, he was the baritone member of the trio in the
world premiere at Brandeis University of Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in
Tahiti.
