Mario Chamlee (1892-1966) was elected to The Lambs in June 1925 as a Professional member. At the time, he was a tenor in the Metropolitan Opera Company.
The tenor was born in Los Angeles as Archer Ragland Chamlee; he was the son of a physician. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in science. He first studied voice with Achille Alberti in Los Angeles and later with Sibella and Dellera in New York City. He made his debut in Los Angeles in 1916 as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with the Lombardi Opera Company.
During World War I, he served in the Army. He was a member of the Argonne Players, a group of army soldiers who sang and entertained troops on the front line. General Pershing personally selected the tenor to perform with an ensemble for delegates at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference.
Following the war, he began singing at movie theaters, which, at the time, commonly featured live entertainment in addition to the film. He was discovered by the great baritone Antonio Scotti and joined the Scotti Opera Company. This engagement led to his debut at the Met on November 22, 1920 as Cavaradossi in Tosca, a little more than a month before the last appearance of Enrico Caruso.
Caruso’s death created a void that Chamlee and other tenors, such as Giovanni Martinelli, Beniamino Gigli, and Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, filled. That Chamlee was able to sustain a career at the Met from 1920 to 1939, during which he performed 219 times, speaks to his ability.
His roles at the Met were lyric or lirico-spinto. He was often cast in Rossini’s Barber, Verdi’s Rigoletto, and La Traviata. His Puccini roles were in La Bohème, Tosca, and Butterfly.
Away from the Met, he sang the lighter Wagner roles at the San Francisco Opera. He also appeared at the Vienna Volkoper, the Paris Opéra, and at the Deutches Theater in Prague. He retired at age 47 to concentrate on private teaching with his wife, soprano Ruth Miller..
Chamlee retired to Los Angeles, were he sang and taught music. He died November 13, 1966, age 74, in Los Angeles. He was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park.