Alfred Arnold Cocozza Bio/Wiki, Net Worth, Married 2018
Mario Lanza (born Alfred Arnold Cocozza; January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an American tenor, actor, and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and the 1950s.Lanza began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16. After appearing at the Hollywood Bowl in 1947, Lanza signed a seven-year contract with MGM's head, Louis B. Mayer, who saw his performance and was impressed by his singing. Prior to this, the adult Lanza had sung only two performances of an opera. The following year (1948), however, he would sing the role of Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly in New Orleans.His movie debut was in That Midnight Kiss (1949) with Kathryn Grayson and Ethel Barrymore. The following year, in The Toast of New Orleans, his featured popular song "Be My Love" became his first million-selling hit. In 1951, he played the role of Enrico Caruso (1873–1921), his tenor idol, in the biopic, The Great Caruso, which produced another million-seller with "The Loveliest Night of the Year" (a song which used the melody of Sobre las Olas). The Great Caruso was the top-grossing film that year.The title song of his next film, Because You're Mine, was his final million-selling hit song. The song went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. After recording the soundtrack for his next film, The Student Prince, he embarked upon a protracted battle with Studio Head Dore Schary arising from artistic differences with director Curtis Bernhardt, and was eventually dismissed by MGM.Lanza was known to be "rebellious, tough, and ambitious", and during most of his film career, he suffered from addictions to overeating and alcohol which had a serious effect on his health and his relationships with directors, producers and, occasionally, other cast members. Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper writes that "his smile, which was as big as his voice, was matched with the habits of a tiger cub, impossible to housebreak". She adds that he was the "last of the great romantic performers". He made three more films before dying of an apparent pulmonary embolism at the age of 38. At the time of his death in 1959 he was still "the most famous tenor in the world". Author Eleonora Kimmel concludes that Lanza "blazed like a meteor whose light lasts a brief moment in time".
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
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
I sing each word as though it were my last on earth.
2
All my life I liked fun. I'm young and alive. I like people with heart. Even today when people get gloomy around me, I swear in high C and say, 'Let's get going ... you're fracturing me with this misery!'
3
I sing from the heart... I sing the words of a song and really feel them, from the top of my head to the tip of my toes... I sing as though my life depends on it, and if I ever stop doing that then I'll stop living
#
Fact
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.
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.
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
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
$18 Million
