Early life and military service Round was born and raised in
Barrow-in-Furness,
Lancashire (now in
Cumbria). He was the third of four children of a furnace man at a steel mill. Round began singing as a child in the St Paul's Mission church choir, where he met his future wife, Alice York. On leaving Barrow Technical College at the age of 15, he started working at the mill as an apprentice
joiner and competed at some music festivals. In 1936 he joined the police force and was stationed in
Lancaster. During
World War II, Round became a fighter pilot in the
Royal Air Force and was posted to Canada and then the No. 1 British Flying Training School in
Terrell, Texas, serving as a flying instructor for the
United States Air Force. He then began his performing career, later recalling, "I was doing a lot of singing every Sunday in churches all over Texas. I had my own plane so I would fly down 300 miles to
San Antonio for an 11 a.m. service, I would sing and then I would fly back home in the evening." and joined it upon his discharge, in February 1946. He understudied the leading
Gilbert and Sullivan tenor roles, appearing occasionally as Nanki-Poo in
The Mikado. In September of the same year, he became the company's principal tenor, for the next three years, playing the roles of Ralph Rackstraw in
H.M.S. Pinafore, Frederic in
The Pirates of Penzance, Earl Tolloller in
Iolanthe, Nanki-Poo in
The Mikado, and Luiz in
The Gondoliers. Round found the D'Oyly Carte touring schedule gruelling and left the company in 1949. He appeared in
Emile Littler's musical
Waltzes from Vienna, playing the young
Johann Strauss, and two ice shows,
Rose Marie on Ice (1950) and the
London Melody. but generally took the leading romantic tenor roles, including Tamino in
The Magic Flute, Jeník in
The Bartered Bride, and Don Ottavio in
Don Giovanni. He played roles in
Gianni Schicchi,
Lilac Time,
Eugene Onegin,
Wolf-Ferrari's
School for Fathers (Count Riccardo), and
John Gardner's adaptation of
The Moon and Sixpence. During his Sadler's Wells years, Round undertook guest engagements elsewhere. He created the tenor lead, Nils, in the world premiere of
Delius's
Irmelin under
Sir Thomas Beecham in
Oxford in 1953. The critic
Eric Blom wrote, "Thomas Round as the hero was particularly good. He should soon make a
Siegfried, though perhaps only the young Siegfried to begin with." Also in 1953, he appeared in the film
The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan. In 1955 he and the young
Heather Harper played the leads in a televised version of
La traviata, which was the first full-length opera ever shown on BBC television. Round returned to D'Oyly Carte, on tour in 1958 in
Dublin, playing his old roles of Frederic, Nanki-Poo, adding Ralph, and, for the first time, Marco in
The Gondoliers, the following season. During the company's summer break in 1958, Round earned more good notices as Count Danilo opposite
June Bronhill with Sadler's Wells in
The Merry Widow at the
London Coliseum. The production was made into the first film by a major British opera company of
The Merry Widow (1958). He also played principal roles in
Pagliacci, In 1960 and 1961 he assumed a new role, Colonel Fairfax, in
The Yeomen of the Guard, also appearing in that role for the City of London Festival production at the
Tower of London in 1962. In 1961, his other new roles were Richard Dauntless in
Ruddigore and Cyril in
Princess Ida, and he participated in 1962–63 in the company's extensive North American tour. Round built up a popular following particularly among female members of the D'Oyly Carte and Sadler's Wells audiences. To enable the company to appear in small venues, Sullivan's orchestrations were adapted and arranged for smaller forces than D'Oyly Carte employed. Round sang the roles of Box in
Cox and Box, the Defendant in
Trial, Ralph in
H.M.S. Pinafore, Frederic in
Pirates, Tolloller in
Iolanthe, Nanki-Poo in
The Mikado, Richard Dauntless in
Ruddigore, Colonel Fairfax in
Yeomen, and Marco in
The Gondoliers, as well as acting as a director for the company. During his Gilbert and Sullivan for All years, Round also appeared as Arthur Sullivan on tour with Donald Adams in
Tarantara! Tarantara!, a musical about the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership by Ian Taylor.
Later years and retirement at the
International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in 1998 Throughout his career, Round continued to give concerts and to sing in oratorio and recitals. He was frequently heard on
BBC radio, including the
Friday Night Is Music Night programme, Round maintained his interest in Gilbert and Sullivan and their works and served as president of the Marton Operatic Society and vice-president of The Gilbert and Sullivan Society (London). Until 2006, Round was also honorary president of the
University of York Gilbert and Sullivan Society. In 2006, he became the president of Lancaster & District Choral Society, serving until 2015. He also appeared many times at the annual
International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival performing, lecturing and meeting with Gilbert and Sullivan enthusiasts well into his 90s. He published a biography in 2002. Round's wife Alice died in 2010; the couple were married for 72 years. Round died at age 100, on 2 October 2016. ==Recordings and filmography==