Opera Singer. A dramatic tenor who sang 'heavyweight' roles in the world's major venues, he is best remembered for his three careers at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Raised in the industrial Indiana suburbs of Chicago, he took to music early and after gaining experience in local church choirs joined the US Navy during World War II and sang with the Blue Jackets Choir. After the conflict McCracken studied at Columbia University and in Konstanz, Germany, before making his 1952 operatic debut with the Central City Opera of Colorado as the poet Rodolfo of Puccini's "La Boheme". He bowed at the Metropolitan in 1953, also in "La Boheme" albeit in the tiny role of the Toy Seller. In 1954 he met mezzo Sandra Warfield during a Norfolk, Virginia, production of Camille Saint-Saens "Samson et Dalilah"; the pair soon wed and returned to New York where McCracken remained busy at the Metropolitan in such comprimario roles as the Judge in Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" and Roderigo of the same composer's "Otello" while Sandra built a repertoire of only slightly larger parts at the same theater. Frustrated that the Metropolitan was only giving him tertiary roles, even after the New York Times" devoted a whole paragraph to praising him for an appearance as the Messenger in Verdi's "Aida", he and his wife moved to Europe in 1957. Over the next six years with the Zurich Opera, the Berlin State Opera, and the Vienna State Opera, he earned acclaim as the tragic and jealous Moor Otello, Calaf of Puccini's "Turandot", Manrico in Verdi's "Il Trovatore", the title lead of Wagner's "Tannhauser", Don Jose from Bizet's "Carmen", Aida's Egyptian lover Radames, the flawed Hebrew warrior Samson, and the role that had been Caruso's signature, the sad clown Canio of Leoncavallo's "I Pagliacci". Back with the Metropolitan in 1963, McCracken was a star for the next 15 years, frequently headlining new productions and partnering Sandra in her January 1972 final operatic performance, singing Samson to her Dalilah. Eventually there were cracks in the facade as he found himself shut out of three "Live from the Met" telecasts, two of "Otello" and one of "Tannhauser", leading him to again quit the company in 1978. Invited back for the 1983 Centennial Gala, he accepted and, despite dividing his time between New York and Zurich, remained with Metropolitan for the rest of his life, performing his signature repertoire, appearing as Radames to Leontyne Price's Aida for Miss Price's January 3, 1985, farewell performance, and singing Canio during the final Metropolitan Tour. Afflicted with the consequences of excessive weight, he died following a series of strokes. Today he can be heard on several archived Metropolitan broadcasts, on a number of complete opera recordings including preservations of "Otello", "Carmen", and "I Pagliacci", and even on an album of Scottish ballads.