Tenor Jerry Hadley taken off life support

55-year-old singer suffering from severe brain injury after suicide attempt

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updated 4:04 p.m. ET July 16, 2007

Celebrated tenor Jerry Hadley was taken off life support Monday, nearly a week after an apparent suicide attempt left him with a severe brain injury.

The 55-year-old singer shot himself with an air rifle last Tuesday at his Clinton Corners home, several miles outside Poughkeepsie, according to state police. State troopers found him unconscious on his bedroom floor and he was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie.

Hadley had been on life support since his arrival at the hospital. Family friend and spokeswoman Celia Novo said he was taken off the systems Monday.

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“The hospital is just making him comfortable at this point, so his passing could be at any time,” Novo said.

Hadley, a native of Manlius, Ill., began his career in regional companies around the country. In the late 1970s, he was noticed by the late Beverly Sills, then general director of the New York City Opera, and was hired.

His career included creating the title role in composer John Harbison’s “The Great Gatsby” and playing the main role in the 1989 production of Leonard Bernstein’s musical, “Candide.”

Officials said last week that Hadley was filing for bankruptcy and had been treated by a doctor for depression.