'Moon River' Singer Andy Williams Dead at 84

"Moon River" singer Andy Williams has died at his home in Branson, Missouri, his family said Wednesday. He was 84.

Williams died on Tuesday evening after a yearlong battle with bladder cancer.

Williams began his career in his hometown of Wall Lake, Iowa, where he began singing with his three brothers. At 8, Williams made his professional singing debut as part of the Williams Brothers Quartet.

Williams went solo after the group broke up in 1951, drew attention with his appearances on "The Tonight Show" and began recording. His first No. 1 hit, "Butterfly," came in 1957.

In 1962, he began his 25 year association with Columbia Records, scoring his first Top 10 hit for Columbia, "Can't Get Used to Losing You."

Williams is best known for "Moon River," the Oscar winning song from the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

This song quickly became his theme song and propelled his album, "Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes", to the top of the charts. Williams' "Days of Wine and Roses" album spent an 16 weeks at No. 1 and stayed on the chart for over 100 weeks. His subsequent recordings were best sellers and resulted in his receiving 18 gold and 3 platinum certified albums.

President Ronald Reagan called his voice "a national treasure."

In September 1962, Williams premiered his new variety show, "The Andy Williams Show," on NBC. The show ran for nine years and won three Emmy Awards for Best Musical / Variety Series (1966, 1967 and 1969). It was one of NBC's top rated programs.

Williams built a $12 million state of the art theatre. The Andy Williams Moon River Theatre opened it doors on May 1, 1992.

The 48,000 square foot structure is set among 16 acres landscaped with foliage, rock formation, waterfalls and a rippling stream. It won the 1992 Conservation Award for Developed Land Use from the State of Missouri and is the only theatre ever to be featured in Architectural Digest.

In the spring of 1999, Williams found himself back on the record charts once again. In England, a commercial for the Fiat Automobile Company featured Andy's version of "Music to Watch Girls By" which was a minor record hit for him in 1967. The ad became so popular that the record company re-released the song as a single and this time around it was a Top 10 hit.

Williams' last posting on Twitter was Sept. 22 at just after 11 p.m,, a single word: "Sigh."

In 1991, Williams married Debbie Haas. She survives him, as do his children, his brothers Don and Dick, and six grandchildren.

Instead of flowers, Williams' family asks that donations be made to the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network.