Lisa Kirk, 64; Broadway Musical Star

Lisa Kirk, the brassy beauty who sang “The Gentleman Is a Dope” in “Allegro” and “Why Can’t You Behave?” in “Kiss Me, Kate,” has died of lung cancer at 64.

Miss Kirk, well known for her interpretations of songs by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Cole Porter, died Sunday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, said her husband, Robert Wells.

Born in Brownsville, Pa., Miss Kirk made her Broadway debut in 1945 in “Good Night, Ladies,” and became a star two years later when she stopped Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Allegro” with “The Gentleman Is a Dope.”

In 1948, Kirk originated the role of Bianca in Cole Porter’s “Kiss Me, Kate,” co-starring with Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison and Harold Lang in the long-running musical.

She toured in many shows including “Show Boat,” “Panama Hattie,” “Say, Darling,” “Riverwind” and “Applause.”

In 1964, she replaced Janis Paige in the Meredith Willson musical “Here’s Love” on Broadway and appeared in the Los Angeles company. Ten years later, she appeared in Jerry Herman’s “Mack and Mabel,” which starred Robert Preston and Bernadette Peters.

She sang in clubs in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and was heard singing “Small World” as the voice of Rosalind Russell on the sound track of “Gypsy.”