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Shirley Verrett

Shirley Verrett, American soprano and actress (died 2010)

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Born
May 31, 1931
Died
November 5, 2010
Zodiac sign
Gemini
Birth year
1931

About Shirley Verrett

Shirley Verrett was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles making her a Soprano sfogato. Verrett enjoyed great fame from the late 1960s through the 1990s; she was particularly known for performing works by Giuseppe Verdi and Gaetano Donizetti. Verrett first appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1966 as Ulrica in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. In 1955, she won two California state competitions sponsored by the Young Musicians Foundation, and later that year she appeared on Talent Scouts, a national television show hosted by Arthur Godfrey. In 1961, she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Shirley Verrett timeline

  1. In 1955, she won two California state competitions sponsored by the Young Musicians Foundation, and later that year she appeared on Talent Scouts, a national television show hosted by Arthur Godfrey.
  2. In 1961, she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
  3. Verrett first appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1966 as Ulrica in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera.

The world when Shirley Verrett was born

Shirley Verrett was born in 1931. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1931

  • #1 song"Stardust" – Artie Shaw
  • Top movieFrankenstein
  • Best-selling bookThe Good Earth – Pearl S. Buck

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentKnute Rockne dies in plane crash
  • Top headlineAl Capone convicted of tax evasion
  • Technology milestoneEmpire State Building completed
  • Defining fadJigsaw puzzles
  • Notable inventionElectric razor
  • World population2.10 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHerbert Hoover
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • U.S. population124.0M

1931 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Shirley Verrett's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19312026
Gas$0.17$3.45/gal
Average home$5,500$435,000
Average income$3,000$67,500
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population124.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.