Biography

John McCollum was born on February 21, 1922 in Coalinga, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Amahl and the Night Visitors (1963), We Won't Grow Old Together (1972) and Festival (1960). He was married to Mary Margaret Wilson. He died on October 30, 2015 in Sarasota, Florida, USA.

He married Mary Margaret Wilson in 1944. They had two children, Kristi Elizabeth and Timothy James.

He can be heard on several recordings of oratorios and other choral works, with the Chicago Symphony, Musica Aeterna, and the New York Philharmonic.

During WWII, he served in the US Navy as a fighter pilot and flight instructor. After the war, he finished his degree in journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. He worked as a journalist and magazine publisher until he decided to move his family from California to New York to pursue a career in singing. A lyric tenor, he tied for first place in the American Theater Wing's singing contest in 1952.

In 1962, he joined the voice faculty at the University of Michigan, retiring in 1988.