as Marjorie (in bed), all at right. O'Malley worked as a concert and opera singer on the stage and radio in Australia, Europe, and Africa in the late 1920s and 1930s. Her opera repertoire included Amneris in
Aida, Azucena in
Il trovatore and Princess Eboli in
Don Carlos, and she was mentored by
Nellie Melba. Her career was interrupted due to
World War II during which time she did not perform. she married Dutch businessman Leo Roet in London. Her husband worked as a manufacturer of
industrial diamonds. She made her
Broadway debut in 1944 as a Lady of the Court in the featured vocal octet in
Fritz Kreisler's operetta
Rhapsody. Her first leading role on Broadway was as Aurelia Popoff in the 1947 revival of the
Oscar Straus operetta
The Chocolate Soldier at the
New Century Theatre. Praised for her portrayal by the New York critics, and the
Colonial Theatre, Boston (1947). She later reprised the role at several regional theaters, including the
Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (1949) and the
Starlight Theatre, Kansas City, Missouri (1956). She also performed the role for
NBC in the 1950 television adaptation of the operetta broadcast on
Musical Comedy Time. O'Malley received good reviews portraying a variety of roles in the 1949
Jean Kerr and
Walter Kerr musical
revue Touch and Go at the
Broadhurst Theatre. However, her greatest successes on Broadway were in three musicals by
Oscar Hammerstein II, beginning with the role of Grandma Taylor in the original production of
Rodgers and Hammerstein's
Allegro in 1947. One of her other roles with the company was as Miss Todd in
Gian Carlo Menotti's
The Old Maid and the Thief in 1947. She was also a regular performer in light operas and musicals with the
St. Louis Municipal Opera in the 1940s and 1950s. Greta in
The Great Waltz (1946 and 1956), the title role in
Roberta (1954), Mother Grieg in
Song of Norway (1954), She also performed in two seasons at the Memphis Open Air Theatre; performing the roles of Katisha in
The Mikado (1949), Aurelia Popoff in
The Chocolate Soldier (1949), Clotilde in
The New Moon (1949 and 1950), Lady Mary in
The Vagabond King (1950), and Madame Dondidier in
The Pink Lady (1950). In 1957 O'Malley portrayed Dame Carruthers in a television film of
Gilbert and Sullivan's
The Yeomen of the Guard that was broadcast on the anthology series
Hallmark Hall of Fame. The cast also included a young
Barbara Cook as Elsie Maynard,
Alfred Drake as Jack Point, and
Celeste Holm as Phoebe Meryll. In 1962 she reprised the role of Mother Grieg in
Song of Norway with the
Los Angeles Civic Light Opera in a cast led by
Patrice Munsel as the Countess. She died on 21 August 1994 in
Dade City, Florida. ==References==