Perry Como

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Perry Como was born Pierino Ronald Como in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania on May 18, 1912, the son of Pietro Como, a mill hand, and Lucia Travaglini Como, immigrants from Palena, Italy. The seventh of thirteen children, Perry Como earned a few cents a day working after school in a local barbershop in Canonsburg. Later, while attending high school, he operated his own barbershop. Como, performing at wedding receptions and other functions, gained local recognition for his singing ability. One of the few vocalists of his generation to read music, he played both organ and baritone horn.

Vacationing in Cleveland in 1933, Como auditioned for Freddie Carlone's band and was hired at twenty-five dollars a week. That same year Como married his high school sweetheart, Roselle Belline, the daughter of French immigrants; they had three children, whom they sheltered from the celebrity world of show business. "Roselle always stood by me," Como remarked. She died in August 1998, two weeks after celebrating their sixtyfifth wedding anniversary.

Como's popularity skyrocketed in the late 1930s after he became the featured vocalist with the Ted Weems orchestra. When the Weems band broke up in the early 1940s, NBC offered him a contract to share star billing with singer Jo Stafford on the Chesterfield Supper Club, a radio show broadcast Mondays through Fridays.

Como usually sang romantic ballads during each broadcast. When that show came to Friday night television in the late 1940s Como continued to be a featured vocalist, supported by the Mitchell Ayres Orchestra and the Fontane Sisters. A smorgasbord of comedy routines, dancing, and singing, the show gave him the opportunity to reveal a captivating personality. His neckties and business suits, however, did not complement his casual style and in later shows he wore cardigan sweaters, dubbed Perry Como sweaters by his fans.

The program was soon moved to a half-hour slot on Sundays, competing with Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town. Meanwhile, Como was also performing before enthusiastic and often frenetic audiences at the Paramount Theater in New York City and the Steel Pier in Atlantic City. "Perry Como was the heartthrob of the ladies at that time," remarked David Hamid, Jr., part owner of the Steel Pier.

Hollywood filmmakers lured Como to the silver screen, but his career in the motion picture industry was brief and unrewarding. Three of his movies, Something for the Boys (1944), Doll Face (1945) and If I'm Lucky (1946), remain memorable because they featured Carmen Miranda . "I was wasting their time and they were wasting mine," Como admitted. Television, however, seemed made for his singing style and personality.

His baritone voice, intimate and personal, complemented his affability and sincerity. Television viewers liked his friendliness. On 14 May 2001 the Washington Post noted in retrospect: "What Perry Como did week after week on his TV shows was not so much sing to his fans as have a continuing conversation with them, a conversation in song."

In 1950 Como signed with CBS, hosting his own program for five seasons. In 1955 he went back to NBC, starring in the weekly Perry Como Show, later titled The Kraft Music Hall. He remained with NBC until 1963. From the late 1940s through the early 1960s Como was a pioneer in the television variety show genre. His singing style evolved into the popular musical form called easy listening, influencing a generation of lounge singers.

Beginning with his first, on Christmas Eve 1948, Como's Christmas specials on ABC-TV became an integral part of the holiday season. These annual events were accompanied by his three Christmas albums (1946-1948) for the RCA Victor label. A fourth Christmas album, recorded for Como's 1993-1994 Irish Christmas television special, was his only non-RCA recording in half a century. When ABC decided to cancel Como's annual Christmas special in 1987, the Dallas Morning News mounted a "Save Perry" letterwriting campaign. A fan wrote: "If Perry Como is removed from Christmas, can Santa Claus be far behind?“

Wearing a cardigan sweater and showing a winning smile on television, he appeared so relaxed that his critics believed he lacked ambition. However, his career spanned more than six decades and made him wealthy. "People have always thought that I wasn't ambitious," he said. "They judged by appearances and were fooled. I was competitive. I wanted success and was willing to work for it." In New Statesman, 14 May 2001, a music critic wrote, "nobody else was so intensely relaxed."

During the final years of his long life Como spent most of his time at his home in Jupiter Inlet Beach Colony near Palm Beach, Florida, golfing, fishing, and taking long walks with his wife. Near the time of his death he had become a great-grandfather. He devoted himself to various charities, including his annual golf benefits at Duke University in North Carolina, and even found time to visit radio stations that carried Weekend with Perry, a weekly program syndicated throughout the United States.

Combining a gentle voice with a pleasant personality, Como celebrated in life and in song romantic love and lifelong fidelity. He parlayed these values and his ability to express them in song into one of the most successful careers in twentieth-century popular entertainment.

Perry Como died in his sleep on May 18, 2001.

You’ve been listening to Till the end of time

Now click a last click, sit back, relax, and listen to some other of his songs… - or you can skip he slides until you find your favorite one

When I fall in love

If I loved you

Some enchanted evening

Days of wine and roses

Fly me to the moon

Papa loves mambo

Wanted

Magic moment

I wonder who’s kissing her now

I believe

No other love

Don’t let the stars get in your eyes

hope you’ve enjoyed…