Mario Lanza

Mario Lanza earned Arturo Toscanini’s description as “the greatest voice of the 20th century” and ranked among the most prominent American vocalists and film actors during the immediate postwar era. Born Alfredo Arnold Cocozza in Philadelphia on January 31, 1921, to Italian immigrant parents, he derived his professional surname from the masculine version of his mother Maria Lanza’s maiden name. Beginning vocal training at fifteen, he later secured a Columbia contract for concert appearances, yet his path shifted abruptly in 1943 upon induction into the U.S. Army. There he appeared before fellow soldiers under the billing “the Service Caruso” and performed in the production Winged Victory. After discharge he settled in New York, giving recitals and broadcasting on radio; an audition recording reached MGM, where studio head Louis B. Mayer attended a live performance and offered a seven-year contract.

Lanza’s sole professional operatic engagement occurred in 1948 when he sang in the New Orleans Opera staging of Madame Butterfly. His screen debut followed the next year in The Midnight Kiss, where the soundtrack excerpt “Celeste Aida” became a hit. The Toast of New Orleans came next and introduced his first million-selling single, “Be My Love.” In 1951 he portrayed his idol in the biographical film The Great Caruso and scored another million-seller with “The Loveliest Night of the Year.” That same year he launched a CBS radio series, then appeared in Because You’re Mine the following season; its title song, written by Sammy Cahn and Nicholas Brodszky, received an Academy Award nomination and marked his third and final million-selling release.

After recording the score for MGM’s The Student Prince, Lanza withdrew from the picture; by permitting the studio to keep the masters he averted litigation, and the single “The Drinking Song” reached number one on the U.S. charts. He then withdrew from public view for more than a year, struggling with dependencies on food, alcohol, and tranquilizers while contending with IRS disputes. Returning to the screen in 1956, he starred in Warner Bros.’ Serenade. The subsequent year, dissatisfied with life in the United States, he relocated to Italy and took up residence in Rome for the 1958 production The Seven Hills of Rome. During that period he also toured the U.K. and completed his last film, For the First Time. Lanza died in Rome on October 7, 1959, at age thirty-eight from a pulmonary embolism.