Tony Nominee Julie Wilson Passes Away at 90

BroadwayWorld has just learned that stage, screen, and cabaret star Julie Wilson passed away yesterday, April 5, from complications from two recent stokes. She was 90 years old.

Wilson's friend Ann Hampton Callaway writes on Facebook:

When I came to NY to pursue my dreams, Julie was one of the first people who welcomed, encouraged and inspired me. I loved her contrasts- she was pure glamour when she stepped on a stage and sang great songs with wry wisdom and humor and when she was done, she'd put on her Reboks and fold her gown in a shopping bag and call it a night. She may have left Omaha but Omaha never left her. Always down to earth, she balanced to perfect proportion, lady and broad, and a conversation with her always involved much laughter. I know of almost no other singer who was as generous to other singers as Julie, attending shows of so many of us starting out through the years and always with such love and enthusiasm. Singer, actress, mother and shining light, you will be dearly missed by all of us lucky enough to know you, Julie. They don't make them like you anymore.

Wilson made her Broadway stage debut in the 1946 revue Three to Make Ready. In 1951, she moved to London to star in the West End production of Kiss Me, Kate and remained there for four years, appearing in shows such as South Pacific and Bells Are Ringing while studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She returned to New York to replace Joan Diener in Kismet. Additional Broadway credits include The Pajama Game (1954), Jimmy (1969), Park (1970), and Legs Diamond (1988), for which she received a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She also toured in Show Boat, Panama Hattie, Silk Stockings, Follies, Company, and A Little Night Music.

In 1957, Wilson sang with Ray Anthony and his Orchestra, contributing vocals to a number of songs in the soundtrack to the film This Could Be The Night. Wilson also had an acting role in the film, as singer Ivy Corlane.

Wilson's television credits include regular roles on the American daytime soap opera The Secret Storm. She also appeared in a Hallmark Hall of Fame telecast of Kiss Me, Kate and numerous episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show.