Whatever happened to Jerome Courtland?

In a feedback message to a review of the original cast recording of "Flahooley", MasterLcZ asked: "And whatever happened to Jerome Courtland, anyway? What a beautiful voice." I have been a loyal Jerome Courtland fan since I first saw him in a Western movie, "The Texas Rangers" in 1951. Shortly after that he appeared on stage at the Capitol Theater in Washington, DC and I fell in love with his singing voice. I sat through countless showings of a terrible movie "The Glory Brigade" to see and hear him sing. I had the original cast album of "Flahooley" but it was lost in the late 50s in a disastrous move from Virginia back to DC. Fortunately, I now have the CD and can enjoy that beautiful voice once again. I lost track of him for many years, though I never forgot about him and only recently learned what became of him. Here is what happened to him. About 1959 he went to Europe to make the TV series "Tales of the Vikings" and after that was completed, he stayed there for about 6 years making films in Germany and Italy. When he returned, he decided to give up acting and become a director. He had worked for Walt Disney in the movie "Tonka" and the TV series "The Saga of Andy Burnett" so he called him and told him what he wanted to do and Disney gave him the break he needed. Later he moved to TV and directed such shows as "The Flying Nun", "Dynasty", "Knott's Landing", etc. The last several years, he has been teaching producing and directing at Columbia College Chicago. Though he made 3 movies in which he sang, "Flahooley" was his first and only Broadway show. He made many nightclub and supperclub appearances and several records. Unfortunately, he no longer sings, "not even in the shower". He is 77.
If anyone is interested in how he got into the movies - a really funny story - or what movies he appeared in, just let me know. As you can tell, I enjoy writing about him.


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