Sad news to report from Branson: Legendary singer Andy Williams died Tuesday night. Andy Williams died at his home in Branson, Mo., after a year-long battle with bladder cancer, according to his publicist Paul Shefrin. He was 84.
Born in Wall Lake, Iowa, the son of a railroad worker, Howard Andrew WIlliams sang in his family’s church choir with older siblings Bob, Dick and Don. In the late ’30s, the boys built up a name for themselves regionally on Midwestern radio stations as the Williams Brothers quartet.
Williams launched a solo career in 1952 and had several hit singles, including his Oscar-winning rendition of “Moon River” from the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Moon River was one of Williams’ signature songs and a standard on KFFB 106.1.
In 1962, he hosted the “The Andy Williams Show” on NBC. He opened the Andy Williams Moon River Theater in Branson in 1992.
With 17 gold and three platinum records to his name, 2012 had marked his 75th year in showbiz with celebrated concerts by many stars scheduled at his Moon River Theatre in Branson.
The crooner is survived by his wife, Debbie, and his three children, Robert, Noelle and Christian. Williams had the children with French-born dancer Claudine Longet.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network.
