Beverly Sills

Her smile was as dazzling as her voice. We all knew Beverly Sills, the diva who was not a diva, an international star and American icon who probably single-handedly (in her latest project) saved the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. If you grew up with Sesame Street, Carol Burnett and Johnny Carson, you remember how she could wow the studio audience and many millions more out there in TV land, raising national awareness for opera and classical music like no one else could.

Miss Sills died on Monday at age 78. Her agent said in a brief news item yesterday that she only found out about her cancer four weeks ago.

Throughout the '60s and '70s, she made many trips to Cincinnati to perform some of her most famous roles with Cincinnati Opera. It was during the height of her career. She sang roles at the Zoo Opera, 1965-68 and '71, and when the company moved indoors to Music Hall, she sang three more seasons there, 1972-74.

She had much sadness in her own life, but "the smiling face all the time was an inspiration," says Florence Kaufman of Amberley Village. "Just to watch the drive -- she had to meet and greet everyone. We were often together, sitting next to the (Pat and Ralph) Corbetts for years -- front row Opera. At Zoo rehearsals, we were in line together for lunch with Tito Copobianco.

"She was 'bubbly' and she would talk about her dress, how did she look, and wanted to know if she sounded OK. She was close to the Corbetts."

Her roles in Cincinnati:

At the Zoo:

1965: All three heroines, Olympia, Giuletta and Antonia, in Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffmann."

1966: Marguerite in Gounod's "Faust"; and the three heroines in "The Tales of Hoffmann."

1967: Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata" with Placido Domingo as Alfredo; and Rosalinda in Strauss' "Die Fledermaus."

1968: Lucia in Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor"; and the three heroines in "The Tales of Hoffmann."

1971: Lucia in "Lucia di Lammermoor"

In Music Hall:

1972: Violetta in "La Traviata"

1973: Marie in Donizetti's "The Daughter of the Regiment."

1974: Queen Elizabeth I in Donizetti's "Roberto Devereux.

AP Photo: Beverly Sills and Barbara Walters in 2003, attending the wedding of Rudy Giuliani (photo by Diane Bondareff)