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Back to Biographies Vic Damone As he celebrates his 52nd anniversary as a performer, Vic Damone remains one of the most celebrated American vocalists. He even appeared in the 1997 film comedy "Money Talks," in which Chris Tucker's character poses as the singer's son. In November 1998 Mr. Damone headlined a three-day academic conference at Hofstra University (Hempstead, New York) on the life of Frank Sinatra. The only singer to perform during the conference, he was awarded the distinguished Hofstra President's Medal following the concert. In 1997 he was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in New York. He has recorded more than 2,000 songs, including "An Affair to Remember," "On the Street Where You Live," "Gigi," "Ebb Tide," "Why Was I Born," and "You're Breaking My Heart." Reader's Digest has released his latest recording, a triple compact disc set entitled The Legendary Vic Damone. The selections include thirty new recordings and such classics as "Stardust," "The Girl from Ipanema," "Perfidia," "Night and Day," "Green Eyes," and "Embraceable You." Born Vito Farinola in Brooklyn, New York, in 1928, Vic Damone took his mother's maiden name when he entered the entertainment profession. His mother was a piano teacher and his father played the guitar. When his electrician father was sidelined by an on-the-job injury, Vic dropped out of high school in his junior year to help support his family, which included four sisters. In 1997, 52 years later, Vic Damone returned to Lafayette High School in his old Bensonhurst neighborhood to receive his high school diploma. His first job was as an usher at the famous Paramount Theatre in New York, where the hottest big bands and singing stars of the day would perform and where Mr. Damone was encouraged by Perry Como to try a singing career. On March 9, 1947, Vic Damone stepped up to the microphone at New York radio station WHN for his professional debut, a guest appearance on the Gloom Dodgers radio show hosted by Morey Amsterdam. Shortly before his eighteenth birthday he was a winner on Arthur Godfrey's popular "Talent Scouts" program, which brought him to the attention of Milton Berle and led to an engagement at La Martinique night club. Subsequently Mr. Damone hosted his own radio series, performed at the Paramount, as the singing star backed by Stan Kenton's orchestra, and began recording for Mercury Records. His first record, "I Have But One Heart," was an instant hit, and he followed it with appearances in films such as Rich, Young and Pretty, Hell to Eternity, Athena, and Deep in Your Heart. Following two years service in the U.S.Army, he was back on the screen with Kismet, Crash Boat, and Hit the Deck. But he missed singing to a live audience and returned to touring coast to coast in night clubs and concert halls, a practice he continues to this day, having found a new audience among Generation X. |