Home
  Victorian Crolla´s
  Crolla Family Tree
  Our Austrian Mum
  Crolla Photo´s
  The Colletta Family
  Italian Links
  Guest Book

Going Back To Our Roots

TribalPages-The Crolla Family

The life of Mario Lanza - Italy, America 1921-1959

------------------------

"A career in Opera"    

Mario Lanza


Mario Lanza (31 January 1921-7 October 1959) (real name: Alfredo Arnold Cocozza) was an Italian American operatic tenor and Hollywood movie star, enjoying success in the 1950s.
His films include:
That Midnight Kiss, 1949
The Toast of New Orleans, 1950
The Great Caruso, 1951
The Student Prince, 1954 - voice only
Serenade, 1956
Seven Hills of Rome, 1958
For the First Time, 1959

Mario Lanza Links

Italy, America -

Lanza-Man Possessed
Lanza Menu
ListenToLanza
Lanza#s Secret
High Note Lanza
Lanza Mural
Lanza Sessions
Lanza Nostalgia
Buy Lanza Movie
Lanza RingTone
Time Mag Lanza
Lanza Museum
FreeRadical Lanza
Lanza Institute
Lanza Website
IMDB Lanza
Rediscovering Lanza
Lanza Legend
Mario Lanza
Wikipedia Lanza
Utube V.Rare SantaLucia
MarioLanza Museum
Amazon Xmas Mario
Rhapsody Lanza
ChristmasWithLanza
Mario Lanza.it
BritishLanza Society
ArtistDirect Lanza
StarPulse Lanza
LanzaMeetsElvis
Phili&Pennsylvania Museum
LanzaVintageRadioLogs
InfoPlease Lanza
BecauseYourMine
Lanza V's Dylan
Radio Lanza
Essential Lanza
Opera Lanza
Lanza The Best
LanzaObituaries

Santina's Genealogy

You can contact me
"Email me"
here.

I am doing Genealogy Look-Ups

------------------------

"Santina's Genealogy Services are here to help you with the research of your Manchester family history"    












The Great Operatic Tenor In Holliwood

 

Mario Lanza AKA Alfred Arnold Cocozza


Born: 31-Jan-1921
Birthplace: Philadelphia, PA
Died: 7-Oct-1959
Location of death: Rome, Italy
Cause of death: Heart Failure


Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Singer


Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Voice of the Century


Tenor, has sold over 50 million albums.


Wife: Betty Hicks (m. 21-Apr-1945, until his death, two daughters, two sons)
Daughter: Colleen (d. 1997 automobile accident)
Daughter: Eisa (housewife)
Son: Damon
Son: Marc (d. 1993 heart attack)


University: Berkshire School of Music




   

MARIO LANZA died in Rome in 1959 at the age of 38. His movie career, spanning about 10 years, consisted of only seven films. Yet he seems to have had a strong influence on major figures in the music world. On a television special last year, Luciano Pavarotti cited Lanza as a major inspiration in his career. And tonight at 9 on Channel 13, a documentary titled ''Mario Lanza: The American Caruso'' has as its host Placido Domingo, who insists that the Lanza name has signified ''magic for two generations.''

The story of Mario Lanza, christened Alfred Cocozza at his birth in Philadelphia, is finally a story of what might have been. In the mid-1940's, he toured the country as part of the Bel Canto Trio, which included Frances Yeend and George London. It wasn't long, though, before he settled in Hollywood, where Joe Pasternak, the producer, took the kinks out of his hair and made him lose 25 pounds for the picture ''That Midnight Kiss.'' Lanza was packaged as the singing truck driver from Philadelphia, but as this first-rate Camera Three Production points out, he never did any manual work. His mother was the one who worked to pay for his singing lessons.

His career reached a peak with ''The Great Caruso,'' but he was always hounded by problems. In one movie, his weight fluctuated by 80 pounds, turning the character into almost two completely different people. He drank too much, and he liked women too much. He was temperamental on the set and did not have pleasant relations with the press. He was eventually on the verge of a nervous breakdown and then decided to move to Italy.

Mr. Domingo offers the most familiar theory associated with all this misery. The movie star was the victim of a failed dream; he ''never got what he wanted - the stage of an opera house.'' The movies, it seemed, had once again destroyed a great artist. But, in fact, there is little evidence that Mario Lanza wanted a stage career. His movie singing was recorded. Once booked into a Las Vegas nightclub, he failed to show up. And even on a television special that was supposed to be live, he was discovered to be lip-synching to an old recording.

He remains a minor figure, almost a curiosity, in the world of music. He never became the American Caruso. Yet his story is fascinating.




Top
TOP


Mario Lanza-Lolita

Rare Mario Lanza Recordings