Howard Keel, who danced and sang his way through some of the finest MGM musicals, lighting up the screen with his suave good looks and baritone voice, died of colon cancer Sunday at his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 85.

Born Harry Clifford Keel on April 13, 1919, in Gillespie, Illinois, to a bitter hard-drinking coal miner father and a strict Methodist mother who forbade her two sons from having any entertainment.

'I had a terrible, rotten childhood,' Keel commented in 1995. 'My father made away with himself when I was 11. I had no guidance, and Mom was six feet tall, bucktoothed and very tough. I was mean and rebellious and had a terrible, bitter temper.'

Young Keel found work as an auto mechanic, but feared he would stay in 'that narrow kind of life if I hadn't discovered art.' So, by the age of 20 the gawky six foot three Keel was living in Los Angeles. There the shy young man was befriended by a cultured woman who introduced him to the wondeful performances at the Hollywood Bowl. Keel was inspired to take singing lessons, and landed his first professional gig as a singing waiter at the Paris Inn Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. The job earned him $15 a week and two meals a day.

He honed his talents by singing in many recitals and opera programs, and soon drew the attention of the legendary composers Rodgers & Hammerstein. The duo was so impressed with Keel's talents that they quickly hired him to star in several of their musicals, starting with the original Broadway production of 'Carousel.'

Following this, Keel he was signed to a contract with MGM, where his first film 'Annie Get Your Gun' shot him to stardom. Throughout the 50s Keel recreated several of his hit stage roles for film, including impressive string of hits included 'Show Boat,' 'Kiss Me Kate,' 'Calamity Jane,' and of course the actor's personal favorite, 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.'

'It was a fine cast and lots of fun to make,' Keel spoke of his fav musical in 1993, 'but they did the damn thing on the cheap. The backdrops had holes in them, and it was shot on the worst film stock. ... As it turned out, the miracle worker was George Foley, the cinematographer. He took that junk and made it look like a Grandma Moses painting.'

When the major film studios hit a slump, and MGM's musical factory was closed, Keel kept busy on the road with such surefire productions of 'Man of La Mancha,' 'South Pacific,' 'Annie Get Your Gun' and again in 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.'

He didn't fully abandon the big screen, though, making appearances in several Westerns, and turning in starring roles in such classics as 'The Day of the Triffids' and 'Floods of Fear.' Keel was also a regular on the small screen, performing on many variety shows.

But in 1981, Keel found renewed success at age 66 when he ventured into a new medium -- television.

Jim Davis, who had played the role of Jock Ewing on the hit prime-time television soap opera 'Dallas,' died in 1981, and the show's producers needed to find another strong presence to stand up to the ultimate bad guy, J.R. Ewing (played to the hilt by Larry Hagman). They chose Howard Keel.

As Clayton Farlow, husband of Miss Ellie Ewing, and brother-in-law to J.R., Keel remained with 'Dallas' until the series ended in 1991.

'The show was enormous. I couldn't believe it. My life changed again,' Keel reflected. 'I was suddenly a star, known to more people than ever before. Wherever I went, crowds appeared again, and I started making solo albums for the first time in my career.'

Keel was married three times. His first two marriages to actress Rosemary Cooper, then dancer Helen Anderson (with whom he had three children), ended in divorce. His third and final marriage was to former flight attendant Judy Magamoll in 1970, with whom he had a daughter. Keel is also survived by ten grandchildren.