{{short description|American opera singer}}
{{Infobox person |name = Perry Askam |image = Perry Askam.jpg |image_size = |caption = Askam Inscribed Photo |birth_name = |birth_date = 1898 |birth_place = |death_date = {{death year and age|1961|1898}} |death_place = |nationality = |occupation = baritone singer, actor |years_active = 1920s–1950s |spouse = Frances }}
'''Perry Askam''' (1898–1961) was a 20th-century American actor and baritone singer, most active in musical theatre and opera around the San Francisco area.
Askam was born in 1898<ref name=fhm /> to Oliver and Helena Askam. Helena was the daughter of ferryman and land magnate Henry Rengstorff.<ref name=oscv>{{cite book |last=Butler |first=Phyllis Filiberti|date=1991 |title=Old Santa Clara Valley: A Guide to Historic Buildings from Palo Alto to Gilroy |location=San Carlos, California |publisher=Wide World Publishing |page=38 |isbn=0-933174-81-0 }}</ref> Perry was orphaned at a young age, and went to live with his maternal aunt, Elisa Haag, whom he came to view as a second mother.<ref name=oscv /> A little later Elisa and Perry moved into Rengstorff House with Perry's grandmother Christina Rengstorff, widow of Henry.<ref name=oscv /> On this expansive property Perry worked the ranch, working with cattle and in the grain fields while attending local school.<ref name=oscv /> He then attended the Santa Clara University, studying music.<ref name=oscv />
Askam joined the French army during World War I, and when the United States entered on the side of the Allies, he transferred to the American Ambulance Corps.<ref name=oscv /> At war's end, he relocated to New York and appeared in Broadway performances.<ref name=oscv />
Askam played the San Francisco production of ''Castles in the Air'' in 1927.<ref name=pcmr1>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Desert Song at Curran |url=https://archive.org/stream/pacificcoastmusi5328sanf#page/n199/mode/2up/search/%22Perry+Askam%22 |magazine=Pacific Coast Music Review |location=San Francisco, California |volume=56|number=10 |date=March 20, 1928 |via=archive.org }}</ref> In 1928 he performed in ''The Desert Song'' at the Curran Theatre.<ref name=pcmr1 />
He was in the Los Angeles production of ''The New Moon''.<ref name=everett>{{cite book |last=Everett |first=William A. |date=2008 |title=Sigmund Romberg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=POXH4_IE7ooC&pg=PA305 |publisher=Yale University Press |page=305 |isbn=9780300138351 |via=Google Books}}</ref> This engagement led to a recording of the musical's songs "Stouthearted Men" and "Lover Come Back to Me".<ref name=everett /> Joel Whitburn estimates this recording (released on Victor Records 22317) would have been listed as a best seller if the Billboard Hot 100 had existed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |title=Pop Memories 1890–1954 |year=1986 |publisher=Record Research, Inc. |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |isbn=0-89820-083-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/36 36] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/36 }}</ref>
Askam had a significant role in the 1930 Warner Brothers musical film ''Sweet Kitty Bellairs'' in which he sang lead in several numbers,<ref name=fhm /> not surprising in that he was the only professional singer in the cast.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bradley |first=Edwin M. |date=1996 |title=The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 Through 1932 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher= McFarland & Company |page=196 |isbn=0-7864-2029-4 }}</ref>
Askam spent two seasons with the San Francisco Opera.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bloomfield |first=Arthur |date=1972 |title=50 Years of the San Francisco Opera |location=San Francisco |publisher=San Francisco Book Company |page=430 |isbn=0-913374-00-8 }}</ref> Askam performed the role of Count Almaviva in the 1936 production of Mozart's ''The Marriage of Figaro''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bloomfield |first=Arthur |date=1972 |title=50 Years of the San Francisco Opera |location=San Francisco |publisher=San Francisco Book Company |page=331 |isbn=0-913374-00-8 }}</ref> He had two roles for San Francisco's 1937 season, both in works by Charles Gounod, first as Mercutio in his ''Roméo et Juliette'' and then as Valentin in ''Faust''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bloomfield |first=Arthur |date=1972 |title=50 Years of the San Francisco Opera |location=San Francisco |publisher=San Francisco Book Company |pages=333–334 |isbn=0-913374-00-8 }}</ref> He joined the New York-based New Opera Company in 1941 for a performance of Mozart's then-rarely-heard ''Così fan tutte''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Villamil |first=Victoria Etnier |date=2004 |title=From Johnson's Kids to Lemonade Opera: The American Classical Singer Comes of Age |location=Boston |publisher=Northeastern University Press |pages=103, 298 |isbn=1-55553-635-2 }}</ref>
In 1945 Perry and his wife Frances moved back to Rengstorff House to look after his aunt Elise.<ref name=oscv /> He made regular concert appearances with the San Francisco Symphony.<ref name=oscv /> Perry lived at his ancestral home until 1959.<ref name=oscv /> He died in 1961.<ref name=fhm />
==Filmography== * ''Sweet Kitty Bellairs'' (1930) – Captain O'Hara<ref name=fhm>{{cite book |last=Bradley |first=Edwin M. |date=2004 |title=The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 through 1932 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rg-UBJaPD-sC&pg=PA195 |publisher=McFarland |page=195 |isbn=9780786420292}}</ref> * ''The Crusades'' (1935) – Soldier<ref>{{cite book |last1=Santas |first1=Constantine |last2=Wilson |first2=James M. |last3=Colavito |first3=Maria |last4=Baker |first4=Djoymi |date=2014 |title=The Encyclopedia of Epic Films|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nWYmAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA159 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |page=159 |isbn=9780810882485 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name}} *{{IBDB name}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Askam, Perry}} Category:American operatic baritones Category:Victor Records artists Category:Military personnel from California Category:Santa Clara University alumni Category:1898 births Category:1961 deaths Category:Place of birth missing Category:20th-century American male singers Category:20th-century American singers