Louise Caselotti

Marie Louise Caselotti (August 23, 1910 – July 13, 1999), also known as Luisa Caselotti, was an American opera singer and vocal coach of Italian descent. A prolific performer who specialized in the mezzo-soprano and contralto repertoire, she was famously noted for singing the title role in Georges Bizet's Carmen over 400 times. Her younger sister, Adriana Caselotti, would later become famous as the original voice of Disney's Snow White.

Career Operatic Caselotti made her professional debut in 1927 with the San Carlo Grand Opera Company at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Auditorium.

Management and legal dispute Caselotti's husband, attorney Eddie Bagarozy, managed Callas’s early career under a 10% commission contract. The legal battle reached a head in 1955 when a U.S. Marshal famously served Callas with a summons backstage at the Lyric Opera of Chicago—an enterprise Bagarozy himself had helped plant the seeds for.

Later years Following the legal scandal, Caselotti largely retired from public performance to focus on teaching voice. Nevertheless, he planted the seeds for what ultimately became the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Caselotti's younger sister, Adriana, was the voice of Snow White in Walt Disney's 1937 Technicolor animated feature.

Death She died of lung cancer at her home on July 13, 1999, at the age of 88.