Mario Lanza Overview:

Legendary actor, Mario Lanza, was born Alfred Arnold Cocozza on Jan 31, 1921 in Philadelphia, PA. Lanza died at the age of 38 on Oct 7, 1959 in Rome, Italy .

MINI BIO:

Handsome, dark-haired American operatic tenor, enormously popular with audiences and record-buyers alike in the early fifties. After portraying his idol, Caruso, Lanza's career was undone by weight problems and his own temperament. Died from a coronary thrombosis following a crash diet.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Stars).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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He was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the categories of Recording and Motion Pictures. Lanza was never nominated for an Academy Award.

Mario Lanza BlogHub Articles:

The Mario Lanza Show

By Aurora on Oct 7, 2014 From Once Upon a Screen

I’ve been listening to varied broadcasts of “The Mario Lanza Show” on old-time radio on and off for some time. ?In fact, it is by way of these shows that I know anything about the actor/singer at all not having seen any of his films, including the mega-hit THE GREAT CARUSO directed... Read full article


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Mario Lanza Facts
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."

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.

Legally changed his name from Alfredo Cocozza to Mario Lanza in 1948, just before he signed with MGM.

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