'Moon River,' 'Butterfly' Crooner Andy Williams Dies At 84

Andy Williams, the iconic singer who immortalized "Moon River" for countless generations, died on Tuesday night at the age of 84 in his Branson, Mo. home after a year-long battle with bladder cancer.

Williams, who is best known as the sex symbol singer of "Moon River," was also a television personality for The Andy Williams Show, a variety show that ran for almost a decade and won three Emmys in its time.

Williams enjoyed a stellar 75-year career in showbiz, starting out as a child singer in the Midwest with his a quartet comprised of him and his three older brothers. Williams catapulted to fame just a year after he went solo, signing with the small New York label Cadence Records in 1954, where he began to put out singles like "Can't Get Used to Losing You," "Are you Sincere," "I Like Your Kind of Love" and "Butterfly."

Williams, who later wrote the instantly recognizable theme song to the Oscar-winning 1970 classic, Love Story, starring Ryan O'Neal, 71, and Ali MacGraw, 73, also penned a 2009 memoir about his life in showbiz called, Moon River and Me.

He is survived by his wife, Debbie, and his three children from his previous marriage with Claudine Longet — Noelle, Christian and Robert, reports the Chicago Tribune. He was a beloved figure and a local patron of the arts in his hometown of Branson, Mo., where he built his Moon River Theatre in 1992 and always remained a devoted contributor to the music and theater scene.

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