As per our current Database, Claude Heater is still alive (as per Wikipedia, Last update: May 10, 2020).
Currently, Claude Heater is 97 years, 0 months and 27 days old. Claude Heater will celebrate 98rd birthday on a Saturday 25th of October 2025. Below we countdown to Claude Heater upcoming birthday.
| Popular As | Claude Heater |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Age | 97 years old |
| Zodiac Sign | Scorpio |
| Born | October 25, 1927 (Oakland, California, USA) |
| Birthday | October 25 |
| Town/City | Oakland, California, USA |
| Nationality | USA |
Claude Heater’s zodiac sign is Scorpio. According to astrologers, Scorpio-born are passionate and assertive people. They are determined and decisive, and will research until they find out the truth. Scorpio is a great leader, always aware of the situation and also features prominently in resourcefulness. Scorpio is a Water sign and lives to experience and express emotions. Although emotions are very important for Scorpio, they manifest them differently than other water signs. In any case, you can be sure that the Scorpio will keep your secrets, whatever they may be.
Claude Heater was born in the Year of the Rabbit. Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Rabbit enjoy being surrounded by family and friends. They’re popular, compassionate, sincere, and they like to avoid conflict and are sometimes seen as pushovers. Rabbits enjoy home and entertaining at home. Compatible with Goat or Pig.
From barber to singer to portraying Jesus Christ onscreen, Claude Heater has had an interesting career. While a student at Richmond Union High in Oakland, California, Heater saw a performance of "Faust" in San Francisco which sparked his interest in opera.
However, the young baritone wasn't sure he had the voice for opera. After high school, he joined the Marines, where one of his duties was cutting hair for his fellow servicemen at a boot camp in California.
After his discharge from the Marines, Heater studied singing for two years, then joined the Mormon Church missionaries' choir as a soloist. But his desire to sing opera led him to New York, where he continued his studies with the American Theater Wing.
In 1952, he appeared on Arthur Godfrey's "Talent Scouts," winning the top prize. That same year, he took advantage of the GI Bill of Rights to study in Milan. Aboard the ship, he met a girl from Texas, Maria Dolores Mooers, who was going to Europe to marry her fiancé in France.
That marriage never took place, as she and Claude hit it off. While the two were sightseeing in Italy, they saw some travel posters, including one for a tour of Egypt. On New Year's Eve of 1952, the pair were married in Cairo.
While in Milan, Heater got plenty of opportunities, singing with opera companies in Germany and Switzerland, as well as in West Berlin. The Austrian conductor, Herbert von Karajan, heard Heater sing in Berlin and invited the American to perform as a guest during performances in Vienna.
In 1958, MGM production manager Henry Hennigson went to one of Heater's concerts in Rome. Hennigson told Director William Wyler and Producer Sam Zimbalist about Heater, and in short order, Heater was given a screen test, then cast as Jesus Christ in the blockbuster epic "Ben-Hur.
" Unfortunately, while in Italy, Heater was robbed twice. First, in Milan, thieves broke into his parked car and made off with over $3000 of his personal belongings. Then, when Heater arrived in Rome, he discovered that his wife's furs had been stolen from a friend's house, where he had stored them for safekeeping.
After "Ben-Hur" was completed, Heater became lead baritone of the Vienna State Opera. He returned to the United States to appear opposite Joan Sutherland in a performance of "Lucia" in San Francisco. Among his other performances were the lead in "Othello" in Boston, and a duet from "Tristan and Isolde" with soprano Clara Barlow, in Italy.
Heater embarked on a new project in 1988, when he was named the artistic director of the Oakland Opera. However, the position only lasted a few years, when the organization suspended operations due to lack of funds.
In 1992, Heater ran for Congress as a Republican in Oakland's 6th Congressional District. His platform included cutting the size of government by 30% over five years and passing a balanced budget amendment.
He was defeated in the primaries, then ran as a write-in candidate, but was again unsuccessful.
