SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN... Pierino Ronald Perry Como (May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. Mr. C., as he was nicknamed, sold millions of records for Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and pioneered a weekly musical variety television show, which set the standards for the genre and proved to be one of the most successful in television history. Como was seen weekly on television from 1949 to 1963, then continued hosting the Kraft Music Hall variety program monthly until 1967. His television shows and seasonal specials were broadcast throughout the world. Perry Como produced numerous hit records; his combined success on television and popular recordings was not matched by any other artist of the time. Comos appeal spanned generations and he was widely respected for both his professional standards and the conduct in his personal life. In the official RCA Records Billboard magazine memorial, his life was summed up in these few words: 50 years of music and a life well lived. An example to all. Composer Ervin Drake said of him, occasionally someone like Perry comes along and wont go with the flow and still prevails in spite of all the bankrupt others who surround him and importune him to yield to their values. Only occasionally. One of the many factors in his success was Comos insistence on his principles of good taste; if he considered something to be in bad or poor taste, it was not in the show or broadcast. While his performance of Ave Maria was a tradition of his holiday television programs, Como refused to sing it at live performances, saying, Its not the time or place to do it, even though it was the number-one request of his audiences. Another was his naturalness; the man viewers saw on the screen was the same person who could be encountered behind a supermarket shopping cart, at a bowling alley, or in a kitchen making breakfast. From his first Chesterfield Supper Club television show, if scripts were written at all, they were based on the way Como would say something. Despite his musical ability, Comos primary ambition was to become the best barber in Canonsburg. Practicing on his father, young Como mastered the skills well enough to have his own shop at age 14. In 1929, the 17-year-old Como met Roselle Belline at a picnic on Chartiers Creek that attracted many young people from the Canonsburg area. In 1993, he was successfully treated for bladder cancer. When Roselle died suddenly on August 12, 1998, at the age of 84, the couple had been married for 65 years. Como was devastated by her loss. Bing Crosby once described Como as, the man who invented casual. His preference for casual clothing did not keep him from being named one of the Best Dressed Men beginning in 1946, and continuing long after Como stopped appearing on weekly television. youtu.be/ldbvaX6VINo
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 01:47:42 +0000
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