Alex McMahon

In World War II, when Glasgow was heavily bombed by the Germans, Alex McMahon was sent to rural Ireland to live with his maternal grandparents. He returned as soon as the war was over, at age 12, and learned the trade of a cabinetmaker.

At 16, he enrolled with the British army and was deployed to Germany. He made friends there who supported him in developing his talent for singing, and in taking voice lessons: they thought him able of becoming an opera tenor.

After six years, he returned to Glasgow, where he now worked as a stevedore, and also continued his vocal training. In 1962, he emigrated to the US, and joined his sister in Michigan. Very soon, he was drafted into the US army, and sent back to Europe – France, this time. Besides his service, he was able to further his vocal studies with a teacher of the Bordeaux conservatory.

Back to Michigan in 1965, he soon married, and moved to Brooklyn first (where he took further voice lessons) and then to Emerson (New Jersey). He worked again as a cabinetmaker, and devoted his free time to singing; he regularly performed at a local club, and appeared on talent shows on TV, like the "Ted Mack Show" or "Opera stars of tomorrow". But when actually invited to audition with the Metropolitan Opera, he copped out, and eschewed making his hobby a profession: he would stay in the cabinet business for good, running his own workshop and showroom.

He retired to Texas, where his daughter lived; even in his old age, he would still sing as a soloist in church.

Reference and picture source

I wish to thank Jim Hanrahan for the recording.