Full Name | Mario Lanza |
Net Worth | $250,000 |
Date Of Birth | January 31, 1921 |
Died | October 7, 1959, Rome, Italy |
Place Of Birth | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
Height | 1.72 m |
Profession | Actor, Singer, Drink, Drink, Drink, Because You're Mine, Funiculi Funicula |
Nationality | American |
Spouse | Betty Lanza |
Children | Colleen Lanza, Marc Lanza, Damon Lanza, Elisa Lanza, Drink, Drink, Drink, Because You're Mine, Funiculi Funicula |
Parents | Maria Lanza, Antonio Cocozza, Drink, Drink, Drink, Because You're Mine, Funiculi Funicula |
Nicknames | Mario Lanza, Lanza, Mario |
IMDB | http://imdb.com/name/nm0487292 |
Nominations | NME Award for Favourite US Male Singer |
Movies | That Midnight Kiss, The Toast of New Orleans, The Great Caruso, Because You're Mine, The Student Prince, Serenade, Seven Hills of Rome, For the First Time, Mario Lanza |
Star Sign | Aquarius |
# | Fact |
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1 | He was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1751 Vine Street and for Motion Pictures at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. |
2 | According to Hedda Hopper's Hollywood (radio show broadcast February 11, 1951), he was playing semi-pro football in Scranton, Pennsylvania in the 1940s. Scranton named February 15, Mario Lanza Day. |
3 | In 1951, his salary was $800,000. |
4 | Legally changed his name from Alfredo Cocozza to Mario Lanza in 1948, just before he signed with MGM. |
5 | Soprano Maria Callas (who was not known for her praise of contemporary singers) is on record as calling Lanza "Caruso's successor," and in a 1973 interview said of him: "My biggest regret is not to have had the opportunity of singing with the greatest tenor voice I've ever heard." |
6 | Although greatly admired by generations of opera stars, including Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras and Roberto Alagna, Lanza himself only performed two operatic roles on stage - Fenton in Nicolai's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" at the Berkshire Festival in Tanglewood, and Lt. Pinkerton in Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" for the New Orleans Opera Association. He received rave reviews for both efforts, with Noel Straus of the New York Times hailing him as having "few equals among tenors of the day in terms of quality, warmth and power." He sang over 150 concerts in his brief career, and at the time of his death had agreed to appear in the 1960-1961 Rome Opera season as Canio in "Pagliacci". |
7 | As one of the first students at Tanglewood in the early 1940s, he was certainly in distinguished company. His fellow students during that period included Leonard Bernstein, conductor/impresario Sarah Caldwell, composer/conductor Lukas Foss and teacher/composer/conductor Frederick Fennell, to name but a few. |
8 | Much has been made of the influence Lanza has had on contemporary tenors such as Plácido Domingo, José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti, but an apocryphal story has followed Lanza through his career and beyond. The famous Italian tenor Enrico Caruso died in 1921. Lanza was born in 1921. Superstition prompts fans to believe that the newborn Mario inherited the voice of the expired Enrico. To support this myth, most critics during Lanza's life espoused the belief that Lanza's vocal range and quality were on a par with no other singer but Caruso. |
9 | Took as his professional name a variation on his mother's name. He substituted the masculine Mario for the feminine Maria and used her maiden name of Lanza as his surname. |
10 | Brother-in-law of actor Bert Hicks. |
11 | Uncle of Dolores Hart. |
12 | As Enrico Caruso was a major influence on Lanza, Lanza has been a major influence on the generation of tenors who came after him. Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, and Jerry Hadley all credit Lanza as an inspiration to them in pursuing their chosen careers. |
13 | A rarity in that he was a best-selling classical artist, Lanza's many recordings on RCA Victor Red Seal--most notably "Be My Love", The Great Caruso (1951) soundtrack album and "Christmas Hymns and Carols"--were top-sellers at the time and have continued to enjoy consistent sales, more than four decades after his premature death. |
14 | A minor uproar once resulted when Lanza went on an early '50s TV show and lip-synched to one of his hit songs rather than singing live. (This was not done in the early days of TV). |
15 | He began filming The Student Prince (1954) playing Prince Karl, but his weight problems and fiery temperament got him fired. Edmund Purdom starred in the role, lip-synching to Lanza. |
16 | Lanza had four children with his wife Betty: Colleen - a screenwriter, died of a road accident in 1997; Elisa - a housewife with two sons, Damon - had dabbled in restaurant and motorcycle business; Marc - died of a heart attack in 1993 at age 37 |
17 | His wife, Betty, was the sister of Lanza's army buddy. He was interested in her picture, and the buddy introduced them. |
Title | Year | Status | Character |
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Walk On | 2014 | TV Movie documentary performer: "You'll Never Walk Alone" | |
Mike & Mike | 2014 | TV Series performer - 1 episode | |
Pop Charts Britannia: 60 Years of the Top 10 | 2012 | TV Movie documentary performer: "The Loveliest Night of the Year" | |
Banda sonora | 2012 | TV Series performer - 1 episode | |
The Darkness II | 2012 | Video Game performer: "Vesti La Giubba" | |
Formula 1: BBC Sport | 2011 | TV Series performer - 1 episode | |
Miss Bala | 2011 | performer: "Ave Maria" | |
Fringe | | TV Series performer - 1 episode, 2009 writer - 1 episode, 2009 | |
Tapped | 2009/I | Documentary performer: "Drink, Drink, Drink From "The Student Prince"" | |
Zodiac | 2007 | performer: "Arrivederci, Roma" | |
The Polar Express | 2004 | performer: "Deck the Halls" | |
Soft Toilet Seats | 1999 | performer: "Be My Love" | |
That Old Feeling | 1997 | performer: "O Sole Mio" | |
Tierische Liebe | 1996 | Documentary performer: "La donna è mobile" | |
Heavenly Creatures | 1994 | performer: "Be My Love", "The Donkey Serenade", "Funiculi, Funicula", "The Loveliest Night of the Year", "You'll Never Walk Alone" | |
Only the Lonely | 1991 | performer: "SORRENTO" | |
Next of Kin | 1989 | performer: "Serenade" | |
Bird | 1988 | performer: "Be My Love" | |
Rosso | 1985 | "Fenesta ca lucive" | |
That's Entertainment! | 1974 | performer: "Be My Love" 1950 - uncredited | |
For the First Time | 1959 | performer: "Come Prima For the First Time", "Pineapple Picker", "Ave Maria" uncredited, "O Sole Mio" uncredited, "La donna e mobile" uncredited, "Bella Figlia del'Amore" uncredited, "Death Scene" uncredited, "Celeste Aida" uncredited, "Vesti la giubba" uncredited, "Ich Liebe Dich" uncredited | |
Seven Hills of Rome | 1957 | performer: "Arrividerci Roma", "Vogliamoci tanto bene" uncredited | |
Serenade | 1956 | performer: "Nessun dorma" uncredited, "Dio Ti Giocondi" uncredited, "Serenade", "My Destiny", "Il Mio Tesoro" uncredited, "Ave Maria" uncredited, "Lamento di Federico" uncredited, "Di Quella Pira" uncredited, "Italian Tenor Aria"uncredited, "Torna a Surriento" uncredited, "O Paradiso" uncredited, "O Soave Fanciulla" uncredited | |
The Student Prince | 1954 | performer: "Deep In My Heart, Dear", "Serenade", "I'll Walk with God", "Beloved", "Summertime in Heidelberg", "Golden Days", "Just We Two" | |
Because You're Mine | 1952 | performer: "Because You're Mine", "Questa o quella" uncredited, "You Do Something To Me" uncredited, "Granada" uncredited, "The Lord's Prayer" uncredited | |
The Great Caruso | 1951 | performer: "Magnificat", "'A Vucchella", "La Danza", "The Consecration Scene", "Trio Finale", "Celeste Aida", "In Questa Tomba", "The Torture Scene", "E Lucevan le Stelle", "The Villification Scene", "Brindisi", "Cielo e Mar", "La Donna e Mobile", "Torna a Surriento", "Che Celida Manina", "Mattinata", "Miserere", "Quartet", "Sweethearts", "Recitativo", "Vesti la Giubba", "Ave Maria", "Sextette", "Because", "M'Appari", "Finale" - uncredited | |
The Toast of New Orleans | 1950 | performer: "Be My Love" - uncredited | |
That Midnight Kiss | 1949 | performer: "Una furtiva lagrima", "Celeste Aida" - uncredited | |