Tony nominee Sally Ann Howes died Sunday in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Born in London on July 20, 1930, Howes came from a theatrical family, but she had only acted in school productions when a family friend suggested her for a role in the 1943 film Thursday’s Child, which launched her professional career. After her second film, Howes signed a contract with Ealing Studios. At 18, she signed with the Rank Organisation, but she soon became unhappy with the roles she was receiving and with being loaned out so often to other studios, so she terminated her film contract.
In 1950, she made her TV debut in a BBC version of Cinderella and her first professional stage appearance in the Sandy Wilson musical Caprice. She followed that with the musicals Bet Your Life (1952), the West End premiere of Paint Your Wagon (1953), Romance in Candlelight (1955), and Summer Song (1956). She moved to New York in 1958, when she married Richard Adler, and made her Broadway debut replacing Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady. Howes ended 1958 with the TV adaptation of The Gift of the Magi, which Adler wrote for her. Below is a rare demo recording of Paint Your Wagon featuring Howes and Ken Cantril.
When her contract in My Fair Lady ended, Howes went back to England to tape the ITV variety series The Sally Ann Howes Show (1959), before returning to Broadway in Adler’s short-lived Kwamina (1961). In 1962, Howes starred in New York City Opera’s revival of Brigadoon, which brought her a Tony nomination for best actress. She then appeared in the Broadway musical What Makes Sammy Run? (1964) and reprised her performance in Brigadoon for a 1966 Emmy-winning TV broadcast. She ended the decade as Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), which you can sample below.
After her 1970 TV pilot Prudence and the Chief, a spoof on The King and I, wasn’t picked up, Howes performed almost exclusively on stage. She toured the US as Maria in The Sound of Music (1972), toured the UK as Anna in The King and I (1973), then returned to London for the 1977 stage adaptation of Hans Andersen. During the 1980s, she appeared in BBC’s music hall program The Good Old Days (1982-83) and sang on the studio cast recording of I Remember Mama (1985). Below are Howes and King and I costar Peter Wyngarde singing (from 4:04) on Russell Harty’s chat show.
In 1990, she starred as Desiree in New York City Opera’s production of A Little Night Music, which was taped for the PBS-TV series Live from Lincoln Center, and debuted her one-woman show, From This Moment On, at the Edinburgh Festival. Her other work in the decade included a return to New York City Opera as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella (1993), the 1995 concept album of Great Expectations, and the Kennedy Center concert of Where’s Charley? (1998). Below is Howes singing “Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music.
Her most recent credits include James Joyce’s The Dead, which she peformed Off-Broadway (1999) and on Broadway (2000), earning a Drama Desk nomination for best featured actress, as well as Dear World at Goodspeed (2000), and Cameron Mackintosh’s US tour of My Fair Lady (2007) as Mrs. Higgins. Below is the cast of The Dead at the 2000 Tony Awards.