Mario Lanza

Mario Lanza, (Born: Alfred Arnold Cocozza 31st January 1921 - 7th October 1959) was an American tenor and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and 1950s. He was the son of Italian immigrants and began studying to be a professional singer at age 15. Orchestra conductor Arturo Toscanini would reputedly later call him "the greatest voice of the twentieth century." Others referred to him extravagantly as the "New Caruso," after his "instant success" in Hollywood films, while MGM hoped he would become their "singing Clark Gable" with his good looks and powerful voice. Today, the "magnitude of his contribution to popular music is still hotly debated", and because he appeared on the opera stage only twice, many critics feel that he needed to have had more "operatic quality time" in major theatres before he could be considered a great star of that art form.