Handsome Texan man sings up a storm on local stages and silver screens alike

"The Love of Sunya," with silentscreen superstar Gloria Swanson and a handsome Texan as her handpicked leading man, opened on Mar. 12, 1927 in New York City.

John Boles grew up in Greenville, where he was born in 1895. He spent his summers with his grandparents, who realized early on that the boy was blessed with a wonderful singing voice and encouraged him to develop his gift.

Boles loved to sing and gladly did so throughout high school. But his parents had their son's life all mapped out for him, and when the time came to go off to college it was to prepare for medical school or the family bank.

He graduated with honors from the University of Texas in June 1917 and two days later married his college sweetheart, a Tyler rose. War had moved up the wedding date. Boles, like all able-bodied men of his generation, joined Woodrow Wilson's crusade to "make the world safe for democracy."

The Texan's fluency in French and German kept him out of the trenches. He was recruited by the Army Intelligence Service and sent behind enemy lines to spy on the Germans, Bulgarians and Turks.

Back in Greenville after the armistice, Boles heard that famous vocal coach Oscar Seagle was going to be in Austin. He hurried to the capital and arranged a private audition with the maestro.

Seagle was so impressed he invited the baritone to study with him in upstate New York. Thrilled to death, Boles borrowed a thousand dollars from his father, who wisely chose not to stand in his way, and moved with his bride to the Adirondacks.

After Seagle taught the promising pupil everything he knew, he urged Boles to continue his studies in Paris. Accompanied by his wife and their new baby daughter, he did just that spending two whole years in France.

Returning to America in 1923, Boles decided to try his luck on Broadway. In a mere three months, he landed the male lead in the hit musical "Little Jesse James."

After the show closed, Boles made his screen debut in "So This Is Marriage?" which Metro-Goldwyn filmed in Manhattan. Strange as it may seem for a singer to appear in a silent picture, it was his well-proportioned good looks that opened the door to a second career. He made one or two more movies before going back to the stage in early 1925.

Gloria Swanson saw Boles the next spring in the musical "Kitty's Kisses" and announced that she wanted him for her leading man in her initial feature for United Artists. At first the studio bosses went along to oblige the box-office queen, but later they were so taken with the singer's performance in "The Love of Sunya" that they signed him to an exclusive contract.

Boles packed up the family, which now numbered two girls, and moved to the West Coast. He played a variety of mostly forgettable parts before being cast in Hollywood's very first musical, "The Desert Song." The reviews were unanimously rave, and even the understated critic for the "New York Times" called his voice "quite pleasing."

Boles' parent studio loaned their suddenly hot property to RKO for the lavish 1930s musical "Rio Rita." His co-star was Bebe Daniels, as British as fish and chips but technically a Texan since he birthplace was Dallas.

Boles made one musical after another that year including "Song of the West," "Captain of the Guard" and "The King of Jazz." When the time came to shoot the third show's hit song "It Happened in Monterrey," he filled in for Bing Crosby, who was in the drunk tank after an overnight DWI arrest.

Audiences quickly tired of musicals, and in 1931 Boles sang his last on-camera note. That did not mean, however, that he was through in motion pictures.

It helped that Boles was not picky about his parts. For example, a supporting role in the original "Frankenstein" was followed by three Shirley Temple movies - "Stand Up and Cheer," "Curly Top" and "The Littlest Rebel."

Boles was not restricted to horror flicks and working with child stars. For several years, he was the first choice of directors for an attractive middle-aged actor to play a subdued sophisticate opposite strong leading ladies like Barbara Stanwyck ("Stella Dallas") and Rosalind Russell ("Craig's Wife).

But the quality and frequency of roles steadily diminished in the late 1930's and early 1940's. Facing the fact that his best days in Hollywood were behind him, Boles went back to where he started - Broadway.

He wasted no time in proving that he could still sing up a storm. Paired with fellow Texan Mary Martin of Weatherford, he brought down the house in the 1943 production of "One Touch of Venus."

Shrewd investments in West Texas oil afforded John Boles a worry-free retirement. He came home to the Lone Star State in the 1950's and settled in San Angelo, where he died of a heart attack in 1969.

Bartee Haile welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions at haile@pdq.net or P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549. And don't forget to visit www.twith.com!