Today we sing of Italian-American actor-crooner Al Martino (Jasper Gini, 1927-2009).
"Hold the phone--Jasper?" you ask? Well, his father's first name was Gasparino. Al was named after him, but Americanized.
Nowadays, most who recall Al Martino remember him for playing Johnny Fontanne, the singer who begs for a movie role in The Godfather movies. I don't usually engage in "fantasy casting" exercises, but this one is irresistible, with its finite parameters and many options. As is well known, or whispered about anyway, the character was based on Frank Sinatra and/or Dean Martin, so it wasn't going to be them. Anyway, those guys were practically Godfathers themselves at that stage, stars of the same magnitude as Brando, so those scenes with Don Corleone wouldn't play. It had to be someone who read as over the hill, but not ancient. By the same token, the many Italian-American singers of the rock generation (Dion, Fabian, Bobby Darin etc) rang the wrong bell. Perry Como was of older vintage, but had also proven he couldn't act. Tony Bennett had been in The Oscar and proven he REALLY couldn't act. Tony Martin, Julius La Rosa, and Frankie Laine all seem like pretty good bets, but for whatever reason, weren't on then short list.
Director Francis Ford Coppola had wanted Vic Damone, but in the end was overridden by producer Albert Ruddy, reportedly through a process not unlike the one Johnny Fontanne employs in the movie, the "persuader" being crime boss Russell Buffalino. Mob interference in show business is not an unheard of thing. Keefe Brasselle had muscled his way into a major TV deal that way. Sinatra mentor Joe E. Lewis had actually had his throat slit by goons when he wanted to break a nightclub engagement. (A digression, but a fun one, Duke Mitchell probably was on no one's short list for The Godfather, but had his say in the wake of the film's success, producing and directing a couple of bloody mafia-themed movies).
Another Italian-American singer we didn't name yet is Mario Lanza. He had died before The Godfather was made, but he plays a role in the story because he was a family friend of Martino's and encouraged him to go into show business. Originally from Philly, Martino served in World War Two, and began singing in local nightclubs following his service, moving to New York in 1948. His first single "Here in My Heart" (1952) went all the way to #1. This was followed by "Take My Heart" (1952, #12), "Rachel" (1953, #30), and "When You're Mine" (1953, #27). In this phase of his career, he was on The Ed Sullivan Show, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, The Arthur Murray Party, Kraft Music Hall, and The Jackie Gleason Show.
Then something happening which got Martino's career off track for a time, and made his ultimate casting in The Godfather kind of meta. Some gangsters bought up his management contract and started demanding kickbacks. He opted instead to move to the UK, where he was also popular. He remained there for the rest of the decade.
Amazingly, Martino's American come-back occurred in the mid '60s, when rock and roll was dominant. Hits of this period included "I Love You Because" (#3) "Painted, Tainted Rose" (#15), "Living a Lie" (#22), all 1963; "I Love You More and More Every Day" (#19), "Tears and Roses" (#20), "Always Together" (#33), all 1964; and "Spanish Eyes" (#15), 1966. Non-charting but well known songs of the period include the theme song to the movie Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), and a popular cover of the Christmas classic "Silver Bells" (1964). "Mary in the Morning" (#27, 1967) had more of a contemporary country feel, and was later covered by the likes of Glen Campbell and Elvis Presley.
In 1975, in the wake of The Godfather's success, he got in touch with his Italian roots and had a couple more hits with "To the Door of the Sun (Alle porte del sole)", which went to #17; and a disco version of "Volare" (#33 in the US, #1 in Italy).
For more on show business history, please see my book No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous; and keep an eye out for my upcoming Electric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.
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