|
|
||
| PERRY COMO | |
|
|
Pierino Como was born on 18 May 1912 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He was the seventh son in a family of thirteen children. When he was ten, Perry got a job sweeping and sharpening in a local barber shop. By the age of 14, he had his own shop and two barbers working for him. Perry would sing while cutting hair and, eventually (in 1933), a friend persuaded him to audition as a vocalist with Freddy Carlone's Dance Band. He won the job and decided to join the band even though he would be earning less than a quarter of the income he was getting from his barber shop. His girlfriend from Canonsburg, Roselle Belline, went with him. They were married on 31 July 1933. After three years touring with Freddy Carlone, Perry was offered a job with the Ted Weems Band which he toured with for six years. Perry and Roselle's first son, Ronnie, was born when Perry was preforming with Ted Weems in Chicago. Despite threats that he would be fiired, Perry left the stage in the middle of a performance to be with Roselle. After Ronnie was born, the Comos were not able to have any more natural children, but later adopted a boy, David, and a girl, Terri. In 1941, Ted Weems joined the Armed Forces and his orchestra was disbanded. Perry got an offer from CBS to star in his own nightly, 15-minute radio show in New York. This quickly led to a recording contract with RCA Victor but it was another two years before Perry had a major hit with Till the End of Time. Perry's recording career began in the middle of the musicians' strike which spelled the end of the big band era and the rise of the solo vocalist and doo wop groups. As a result of the strike, Perry's first eight recordings (from Goodbbye Sue to Lilli Marlene) were made without instrumental backing. Perry had a string of hit records throughout the
late forties and fifties, including Catch a Falling Star, which
won the first Best Male Vocal Grammy award in 1958. Perry's radio show was transferred to television in 1948 as The Chesterfield Supper Club. In 1950, this became the Perry Como Show which ran until 1959. From 1960 to 1963, Perry hosted The Kraft Music Hall. In 1993, Perry underwent an operation for bladder cancer and recovered well. His wife, Roselle, died as a result of a sudden heart attack in August 1998, shortly after their 65th wedding anniversary. She was 84 years old. At the time, the couple had twelve grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Perry Como died on Saturday May 12, 2001. Perry died in his sleep at his home in Jupiter Inlet Beach Colony in Florida. He was 87.
|
|
|
Bestselling Perry Como CDs |
|
|
Click on an item to view details and, if you wish, purchase |
|
|
|
|
Perry Como items now available (at eBay): |
|
Click on an item to view details and, if you wish, bid. |
| If you enjoyed The Menzies Era, why no visit some of our other sites? | ||||
|
For comments and questions, click here
Copyright (c) 1996-2004 Peter Thorogood. All
rights reserved.
Information on these pages is presented for educational and
research purposes. As it deals with historical subjects, specific
items of information are necessarily derived from many other
sources. However, the combination, layout and presentation of the
information is original and copyright and may not be copied or
reproduced in any form or medium without the express permission
of the author.
All graphics and sounds used in these pages are either original
or have been obtained from sources which granted permission to
use them. However, the author of these pages does not necessarily
have the right to grant that permission to others.
Midi versions of tunes are included as reminders of the original
recordings and not as substitutes for them. It is hoped that
these reminders will encourage listeners to purchase the original
recordings.
Anyone who feels that any item in these pages may have
inadvertently breeched their copyright should advise the author through the
link above, so that appropriate remedial action
can be taken.
