Blog | Italian American Entertainment

Burt Young – Italian American Actor

by Vince Chiarelli | Sep 29, 2020 | Blog, Film, Television

Gerald Tommaso DeLouise was born in Queens, New York, the son of Josephine and Michael, both of Italian descent. DeLouise served a tour of duty in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1959. While in the Marine Corps, he won 32 of 34 boxing bouts. He later turned pro and compiled a 17–0 record under three different aliases.

DeLouise went by his stage name, Burt Young, and made his name playing rough-edged working class Italian-American characters, the best-known example being his signature role as Rocky Balboa’s friend (and future brother-in-law) Paulie in Rocky (1976), for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He is one of four actors (the other three being Sylvester Stallone, Stu Nahan and Tony Burton) who have appeared in all of the first six Rocky films.

He has played similar roles in Chinatown, Convoy, Back to School, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Once Upon a Time in America, Last Exit to Brooklyn, and Downtown: A Street Tale. Young has also appeared in many television programs, including The Rockford Files, Baretta, Law & Order, Walker, Texas Ranger, and M*A*S*H.

In 2017, Burt Young returned to the stage as an aged mob boss in The Last Vig, a play written by Dave Varriale. The show ran from January 14 to February 19, 2017, in Los Angeles.

Young is also a painter; his art has been displayed in galleries throughout the world. As an artist, he has collaborated with the writer Gabriele Tinti, for whom he designed the cover for the poetry collection All Over, as well as contributing the illustrations for the art book A Man.

Young is also a published author whose works include two filmed screenplays and a 400-page historical novel called Endings. Young is a widower and has one daughter and one grandson. He lives in Port Washington, New York.

Cyndi Lauper – Italian American Musician

by Vince Chiarelli | Sep 27, 2020 | Blog, Musicians

Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper was born on June 22, 1953. Her mother, Catrine Gallo, is an Italian American whose family is from Sicily. She dropped out of high school and moved out on her own when she was 17. She began singing in local cover bands and working odd jobs to make ends meet. In 1977, she damaged her vocal chords and was told that she would never be able to sing again. She ignored her doctor’s warnings and sought help from opera singer Katherine Agresta who was able to train and help Cyndi sing again.

In 1983, Cyndi released her first solo album: She’s So Unusual. The album became an international hit, selling over 5 million copies in the U.S. alone and snagging a Grammy for new solo artist. She also became the first female artist to have four Top 5 singles on a debut album (with “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “Time After Time,” “She Bop,” and “All Through the Night”).

Following her success in the 80s, Cyndi branched out into acting. She met actor David Thornton on the set of one of her films and the two married in November 1991. In 1995, Cyndi won an Emmy Award for her role in the television series Mad About You. During the 90s, she would also go on to release several more records. Cyndi also wrote the music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical Kinky Boots. In 2013, the musical won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. She has also co-founded several charities and regularly works with nonprofits.

SOURCES: CYNDI LAUPER OFFICIAL SITE, ROLLING STONE, THE NEW YORK TIMES, OSIA

John Saxon – Italian American Actor

by Vince Chiarelli | Sep 24, 2020 | Blog, Film, Television

John Saxon, was born Carmine Orrico in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian Immigrants Antonio Orrico, a dock worker, and Anna Protettore. He started acting in films during the mid-1950s, playing teenage roles. Agent Henry Willson saw Saxon’s picture on the cover of a detective magazine and immediately contacted the boy’s family in Brooklyn. With his parents’ permission, the 17-year-old Orrico contracted with Willson, and he was given the stage name John Saxon. Saxon was proficient in Judo and Shotokan Karate.

Saxon spent 18 months at Universal before the studio first used him in a film. His first significant role was a juvenile delinquent in Running Wild (1955), co-starring Mamie Van Doren. In 1956, Saxon had the lead in a low budget teen film, Rock, Pretty Baby, which became an unexpected success and established Saxon as a teen idol. Saxon quickly reprised his Rock, Pretty Baby role in a sequel, Summer Love (1958). By now he was getting about 3,000 fan letters a week. He then made Teach Me How to Cry with Sandra Dee, which was retitled The Restless Years (1958).

He would go on to appear in more than 200 projects during a span of 60 years. During the 1970s and 1980s, he established himself as a character actor, frequently portraying law enforcement officials in horror films such as Black Christmas (1974), Dario Argento’s Tenebrae (1982), and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).

In addition to his roles in horror films, Saxon co-starred with Bruce Lee in the martial arts film Enter the Dragon (1973), and he had supporting roles in the westerns The Appaloosa (1966; for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture), Death of a Gunfighter (1969) and Joe Kidd (1972), as well as the made-for-television thriller Raid on Entebbe (1977).

Saxon died of pneumonia in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on July 25, 2020, shortly before his 84th birthday.

Annette Funicello

by Vince Chiarelli | Sep 22, 2020 | Blog, Film, Television

Annette Funicello was born in 1942, in Utica, New York to Italian Americans Virginia and Joseph. Annette grew up with a love of dancing and entertaining. When she was just 12 years old, she was cast as the lead in a local production of the ballet Swan Lake. Walt Disney saw her perform and immediately invited her to audition for a new series he was casting for Mickey Mouse Club. Seeing her potential, Disney hired her right on the spot. In October the same year Mickey Mouse Club premiered and became a huge hit. Annette quickly became a fan favorite.

After Mickey Mouse Club was canceled, Annette continued to appear in a variety of television shows including Zorro, American Bandstand, The Ed Sullivan Show, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Growing Pains, and Full House. She also went on to record a number of hit songs and albums. In 1963 Annette made the jump to the big screen and starred alongside her friend Frankie Avalon in the first of several beach party movies.

During the filming of the 1987 movie Back to the Beach, which reunited her with Frankie Avalon, she first began to notice symptoms of multiple sclerosis. She was diagnosed with the disease a few months later. After years of courageously fighting, Annette passed away on April 8, 2013.

In 1993 Annette was recognized by the Sons of Italy Foundation at the National Education & Leadership Awards Gala. She was presented with the National Education and Leadership Award in Washington, D.C. At the ceremony Joanne Strollo (then OSIA First National Vice President) said of Annette: “She is one of the most widely known and loved Hollywood personalities, and her dedication to her family and her strength in this time of adversity are true marks of a woman of extraordinary character.”

SOURCES: ANNETTE FUNICELLO OFFICIAL SITE, PEOPLE MAGAZINE, DISNEY LEGENDS, ANNETTE FUNICELLO RESEARCH FUND FOR NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES, OSIA

D’Addario Family – Musical Instrument String Makers

by Vince Chiarelli | Sep 19, 2020 | Blog, Musicians

Being a guitar player, I’ve used D’Addario strings for years. The other day, while I was playing my guitar, I was wondering if there was Italian American guitar maker. That’s when I looked at my strings and realized D’Addario is Italian. Here’s some information about the D’Addario family and how they got started.

The D’Addario family of string-makers originated in the small Italian town of Salle in the province of Pescara. In 1915, an earthquake devastated the town, and the two brothers-in-law, Rocco and Carmine D’Addario decided to emigrate to Astoria in Queens, New York in an attempt to expand their market, importing and selling the strings made by their family in Salle. By 1918 Rocco had returned to Salle, and Carmine, known as Charles, began making his own strings in a small shop behind the family home. Making the strings from sheep or hog gut, the process of making strings was laborious and involved all members of the family.

When the guitar saw a major rise in popularity in the early part of the 20th century, sometime in the 1930s, the family began making strings for this instrument, producing strings made to order for individual musicians or for guitar manufacturers. During World War II, the company DuPont developed nylon, which would make a major change in the family business. DuPont sent samples to the D’Addario family in 1947, and they began experimenting with this new material, and started developing strings for many of their regular customers. During the late 40’s and early 50’s, nylon-stringed “classical” guitars were being surpassed in popularity by the steel-string guitar, due to the birth of rock and roll. The younger members of the family wanted to expand into steel string, but Charles was reluctant to risk the business on this “uncertain market.”

In 1956 a new company called the Archaic Musical String Mfg Co. began to make steel strings, run by Charles’ son, John D’Addario Sr. The company made strings for several of the major guitar makers of the time, including Gretsch, D’Angelico, Martin, and Guild. In 1962 the two companies were merged under the name Darco. The guitar had become the most popular instrument in the United States, and the Darco company came up with many innovations in the manufacture of guitar strings, including the first automated equipment to wind strings and the first roundwound bass guitar strings.

In the late 1960s, Darco was approached by Martin Guitars regarding a merger in order to pool resources and development efforts. While the partnership was beneficial for both companies, by 1974 the D’Addario family decided it was time to market strings under their own name, and the J. D’Addario & Company corporation was formed. Darco is still a brand name used by the Martin Guitar company.

Originally located in Lynbrook, New York, the business continued to expand and in 1994 moved to its current facility in Farmingdale, New York. The company is still owned and operated by the D’Addario family, with 13 family members among the 1,000 employees of the company. Current key executives include John D’Addario III (CEO), Jim D’Addario (Chairman of the Board and Chief Innovation Officer), Robert D’Addario (President/Managing Director, CTG) Suzanne D’Addario Brouder (Foundation Director).

Source: Wiki

Dom DeLuise – Italian American Actor

by Vince Chiarelli | Sep 18, 2020 | Blog, Comedy, Film, Television

Dominick DeLuise was born in 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian American parents Vincenza DeStefano and John DeLuise. DeLuise graduated from Manhattan’s High School of Performing Arts and later attended Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts where he majored in biology.

In 1961, DeLuise played in the Off-Broadway musical revue Another Evening with Harry Stoons, which lasted nine previews and one performance. Another member of the cast was 19-year-old Barbra Streisand. DeLuise generally appeared in comedic parts, although an early appearance in the movie Fail-Safe as a nervous USAF technical sergeant showed a broader range. His first acting credit was as a regular performer in the television show The Entertainers in 1964. He gained early notice for his supporting turn in the Doris Day film The Glass Bottom Boat (1966).

TV producer Greg Garrison hired DeLuise to appear as a specialty act on The Dean Martin Show. DeLuise ran through his “Dominick the Great” routine, a riotous example of a magic act gone wrong. Dom’s catch phrase, with an Italian accent, was “No Applause Please, Save-a to the End.” The show went so well that DeLuise was soon a regular on Martin’s program, participating in both songs and sketches.

DeLuise was probably best known as a regular in Mel Brooks’ films. He appeared in The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World, Part I, Spaceballs, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Brooks’ late wife, actress Anne Bancroft, directed Dom in Fatso (1980)

In the 1970s and 1980s, he often co-starred with his real-life friend Burt Reynolds, in films like The Cannonball Run and Smokey and the Bandit II. DeLuise was the host of the television show Candid Camera from 1991 to 1992. He was a mainstay of Burke’s Law, an American television series that aired on CBS in the mid 1990’s.

An avid cook and author of several books on cooking, he appeared as a regular contributor to a syndicated home improvement radio show, On The House with The Carey Brothers, giving listeners tips on culinary topics.

DeLuise died of kidney failure on May 4, 2009 at age 75. He had been battling cancer for more than a year prior to his death.