Early Life and Education
Marilyn Rose Cotlow was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 10, 1924, to Sandor and Bernice Cotlow. She had two brothers: William and Phillip. During the Great Depression, her father moved the family of five to Los Angeles in an effort to find work as an attorney. He was an amateur singer, who only allowed his family to listen to classical music or singers of good stature and renown.
Marilyn Cotlow began vocal studies with Hans Clemens, a tenor who had been let go by the Metropolitan Opera in 1937 because he was a German citizen at a time of anti-German sentiment in the United States. Clemens moved to Los Angeles and became good friends with Lauritz Melchior, who lived in Beverly Hills. Clemens organized a vocal competition to discover new talent and to procure students for his fledgling studio. Marilyn Cotlow was 15 when she auditioned, and Clemens appreciated her innate vocal talent and musicality.
Clemens offered her the chance to study six days a week on a half-scholarship. During her first year, Clemens only allowed her to do vocal exercises to make her aware of high forward placement and ensure the correct use of her support mechanism. Clemens learned these exercises while studying with a 90 year old cantor in Milan, Italy, who was said to sound 25 years old.
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