Perry Como

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Perry Como, 1961
Perry Como, around October 1946,
photograph by William P. Gottlieb

Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (born May 18, 1912 in Canonsburg , Pennsylvania , † May 12, 2001 in Jupiter , Florida ) was one of the most famous American pop singers in the mid- 20th century, as well as an actor and entertainer . His exclusive contract signed with the record company RCA Victor in 1943 lasted a total of 44 years and made him unique in the music industry. Como's most famous songs include Magic Moments and Papa Loves Mambo .

biography

Childhood and youth

Perry Como was in Canonsburg in the US state Pennsylvania born. He was the seventh of a total of ten siblings. His parents were both originally from Palena , a small town in Abruzzo , and had emigrated to the United States in 1910. Como came into contact with music early on. His music-loving father bought a home organ which he learned to play. In the years that followed, Como learned other musical instruments, but he said he never took singing lessons.

After graduating from high school , he left his hometown and moved to Meadville , where he ran his uncle's hair salon.

Private life

in July 1933 Perry Como married Roselle Belline, who was two years his junior and whom he had met in 1929. The couple had three children together: Ronnie, David and Terry. Como believed that private and career should be separated. He therefore shielded his family from the public as much as possible and did not give interviews on private topics.

Perry Como was considered an avid golfer. An annual tournament called Perry Como Golf Tournament , organized by colleagues from the entertainment industry, was held in his honor . Fishing was one of his other hobbies. He had his own boat, on which he also worked on new recordings. Como bought a holiday home in Saluda in 1980, which, in order to protect its privacy, was not allowed to be photographed. The main residence of the Como family was in Jupiter , Florida .

In 1971 Como broke his knee after falling while recording his annual winter show, which resulted in an eight-month career break. In 1993 he fell ill with bladder cancer, but it was successfully treated.

Old age and death

After the sudden death of his wife in 1994, Como gradually withdrew from the public. He had his last stage appearances in 1997 at the old age of 85.

Perry Como died on May 12, 2001 at the age of 88 on his estate in Jupiter, six days before his 89th birthday. Most recently, the entertainer is said to have shown symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. In the year before his death, this led to a legal dispute between his children who had objections to his will.

Como was buried on May 18, 2001 (his 89th birthday) with great public participation and 250 invited guests after a memorial service in St. Edward's Catholic Church in Palm Beach on the grounds of the Riverside Memorial Park at the side of his wife .

Music career

Singer in big bands

In 1932 Perry Como left his hometown Canonsburg and moved to Meadville , where he was able to establish contact with professional musicians for the first time. In 1933 he joined Freddy Carlone's band in Ohio , and three years later he moved to the Ted Weems Orchestra and had his first recordings. His first record was called You Can't Pull the Wool Over My Eyes and was released by Decca .

Careers at CBS and NBC

Weems dissolved his orchestra in 1942 and Como switched to CBS , where he sang for a few years without any notable success. When he considered giving up his career as a singer, two NBC producers hired him for the show Supper Club . Como had his first radio appearance on March 12, 1943. He then completed successful theater and night club appearances.

In 1945 the successful part of his career as a singer began with the pop ballad Till the End of Time . Perry Como was the first singer to have ten records sold more than a million times each.

Perry Como experienced the peak of his career in the 1950s. In 1954 he reached number one on the US charts with Papa Loves Mambo . His second number one in the US charts followed in 1957 with Round and Round . The 1958 single Magic Moments was only placed 27th in the US, but it became a number one hit in the UK. The song Catch a Falling Star , also released in 1958, achieved gold status in the United States.

Later career

In 1970, Perry Como gave a concert for the first time after a long break, which took place in the International Hotel in Las Vegas . This resulted in the live album Perry Como in Person at the International Hotel, Las Vegas , released in the same year . His later successes included a 1973 cover version of Killing Me Softly with His Song .

Como performed live well into old age and also performed outside of the United States. Among other things, he gave several concerts in Japan . The last of these concerts took place on March 8, 1993 at the NHK Hall in Tokyo .

TV and film career

watch TV

Perry Como made his television debut with his partner Jo Stafford on December 24, 1948 in a Christmas special on the radio show The Chesterfield Supper Club , which was first broadcast on television for the occasion. This was the start of Como's hugely popular Christmas TV shows, which aired 46 long until 1994. In addition to the United States, these shows were popular in Ireland, among others . The last of these shows was even recorded in Dublin .

In 1957, Perry Como received his own television show. This was initially broadcast weekly until 1987, later twice and then once a month, recorded in many places around the world; z. B. in England, Italy, Austria, France and various places in the USA. For a long time in the 1960s it was an integral part of ARD on Saturday afternoons, originally in English. Caterina Valente was the only German-speaking guest, once together with Ella Fitzgerald , among others .

Movie

In 1943, Perry Como signed a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox . In the following years he made four music films for the studio: Something for the Boys (1944), March of Time (1945), Doll Face (1945) and If I'm Lucky (1946). 1948 followed a supporting role in the music film Words and Music produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .

1973 Como appeared with Julie Andrews in the ABC TV film Julie on Sesame Street .

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE UK UK US US
1955 So smooth - - US7 (? Where)
US
1957 We Get Letters - - US8 (10 weeks)
US
Dream Along with Me - - US11 (9 weeks)
US
1958 We Get Letters (Volume 2) - UK4 (7 weeks)
UK 		-
Dear Perry - UK6 (5 weeks)
UK 		-
Saturday Night with Mr. C. - - US18 (2 weeks)
US
1959 When you come to the end
of the day 		- - US16 (7 weeks)
US
Como swings - - US17 (12 weeks)
US
1961 Sing to Me, Mr. C. - - US50 (13 weeks)
US
1962 By request - - US32 (21 weeks)
US
The Best of Irving Berlin’s
Songs from "Mr. President " 		- - US90 (6 weeks)
US
Sampler with contributions by Perry Como,
the Ray Charles Singers, Sandy Stewart
and Kaye Ballard
1963 The Songs I Love - - US59 (18 weeks)
US
1965 The scene changes - - US47 (17 weeks)
US
with The Anita Kerr Quartet
1966 Lightly Latin - - US86 (9 weeks)
US
Perry Como in Italy - - US81 (16 weeks)
US
1969 Seattle - - US93 (11 weeks)
US
1971 It's impossible - UK13 (13 weeks)
UK 		US22 (? Where)
US
I think of you - - US101 (9 weeks)
US
1973 And I Love You So - UK1
platinum
platinum

(107 weeks)UK 		US34
gold
gold

(19 weeks)US
1974 Perry - UK26th
gold
gold

(3 weeks)UK 		US138 (10 weeks)
US
1975 Memories Are Made of Hits - UK14th
silver
silver

(17 weeks)UK 		-
1976 Just out of reach - - US142 (9 weeks)
US
1983 For the Good Times - UK41 (6 weeks)
UK 		-

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

literature

  • Malcolm MacFarlane, Ken Crossland: Perry Como - A Biography and Complete Career Record. Mcfarland & Co Inc, Jefferson 2009, ISBN 978-0-7864-3701-6 .

Web links

Commons : Perry Como  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Piercesare Stagni: PERRY COMO E LE ORIGINI ABRUZZESI DEL CANTANTE DELL'INNO DEGLI ANNI CINQUANTA. In: virtuquotidiane. February 23, 2019, accessed October 17, 2019 .
  2. ^ Benny Green: Obituary: Perry Como. In: The Guardian . May 14, 2001, Retrieved October 17, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Roselle Belline Como. In: Find a Grave . May 12, 2003. Retrieved October 17, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Perry Como is laid to rest. In: The Irish Times . May 19, 2001. Retrieved October 17, 2019 .
  5. ↑ a b Malcolm Macfarlane, Ken Crossland: Perry Como: A Biography and Complete Career Record McFarland, Jefferson 2009, ISBN 978-0-7864-3701-6 , page 167.
  6. ↑ Chart sources: Singles Albums UK US
  7. ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
personal data
SURNAME Como, Perry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Como, Pierino Ronald (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Canonsburg , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH May 12, 2001
Place of death Jupiter (Florida)