BREAKING Vic Damone dead as a doornail!

He's a stranger in paradise.

Excuse me!

He was one of the hottest of the Italian-American crooners. And a beautiful voice, too.

His son by the beautiful Pier Angeli passed away within the last couple of years.

He was an amateur Italian...at best.

Damone had a golden voice, probably the best of his generation. He was also a great singing partner to Garland on her TV series. Their West Side Story and Porgy And Bess duets are classic.

R1 Was that Blyth's real voice or was she dubbed?

Regarding Damone, I just found this very upsetting fact on his wiki page that I wasn't aware of before:

[quote] Damone was a personal friend of Donald Trump. In May 2016, Trump offered to be a character witness on Damone's behalf in the event of any legal action his step-daughters may take to prevent him from receiving any of his then ill wife's estate, with an estimated worth of $900 million.

The only thing I know about this guy is that he was Mr. Diahann Carroll. I couldn't tell you what he looked or sounded like unlike Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Sinatra obviously etc.

That was Ann's voice r7. They did dub it for The Helen Morgan Story though.

Baubles DLers! Baubles!

So he liked eating black snatch? Ewwwww!

Hey played "Rick Vallone" on an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, wherein Sally had the hots for him. (For our resident Rose Marie troll.)

“If you can paint, I can walk! Anything’s possible!”

Deborah Kerr & Cary Grant

Though somewhat stiff he is a wonderful prince in Kismet. Young, handsome and gorgeous voice.

Unlike Kiley on the obc who sounds like Hadji's father and ruins the recording for me. What prince in an operetta sounds 70?

Too bad the film isn't better though it has some great things in it. Minnelli's lack of interest ultimately does it in. But when Blythe, Damone and Gray sing and Jack Cole's dancer's heat up it is terrific.

Also Keel seems to have gone on a banana split diet after Seven Brides before making this.

Sorry, Blyth.

Blythe sings He Plays the Violin in that American history lesson musical.

You are, r15, of course correct.

So young.

Didn't he used to beat Diahann?

Of course he was friends with Trump. He played Trump Plaza often, for years he had a house in Margate, two towns away from Atlantic City.

With Tony Martin and Russ Tamblyn in "Hit the Deck."

Sorry! Forgot the link.

HALLELUJAH!

Vic & Debbie

Matt is dead?! Noooooooooooooooooooo!

There were lots of stories about him beating his wives, and of course all the mob connections.

His second wife Judy Rawlins killed herself, which is when some of the gossip about him being a violent piece of shit started to surface.

Prior to that he already had a rep for being a scumbag. He kidnapped Perry, the son he had with Angeli, and reportedly paid off a judge to give him custody. When she got custody back she fled with the kid to Italy to get away from Damone.

I preferred his cousin, Doretta Morrow.

Massive pussyhound. Big Trump supporter.

Which ex-wife was worth $900,000,000?

He was an amazing singer, one of the best among his peers.

[quote] Unlike Kiley on the obc who sounds like Hadji's father and ruins the recording for me. What prince in an operetta sounds 70?

My favorite KISMET recording is the 1965 Lincoln Center revival with Alfred Drake returning to his role as Hadjj and golden-voiced Richard Banke as the young Caliph.

it's one of my guilty-pleasure shows, although I've never seen the movie. Thanks R1 for posting that clip.

If you ever see a bunch of old records at a swap meet or record store, 50% will always be Vic Damone (or Tony Martin).

City Opera under Sills did some wonderful fully staged Broadways shows and operettas.

Among the best were New Moon and Kismet.

Incredible that a city as filthy rich as New York which is probably more than 10 times as rich than when Sills was alive can't afford a second opera company to do justice to these types of shows and operas that need a smaller theater than the Met.

Wasn't the wonderful Kismet with Richard Banke referenced above pre-Beverly Sills? I didn't see it but agree it's the best recording. There are also great recordings of Carousel and Show Boat from that same time (mid-1960s) and, of course, the Annie Get Your Gun revival with Merman as Grann....er...Annie. Rise Stevens is lovely on the King & I recording but Darren McGavin as the King is dreadful. I don't think any of them were produced by NY City Opera though they were all at the State Theater.

I did see South Pacific with Florence Henderson and Giorgio Tozzi back then, remember loving it. But their West Side Story with Kurt Peterson and Victoria Mallory was very disappointing.

The Kismet I'm talking about under Sills came much later. I believe it was late 80s/early 90s.

I think what you're talking about was something like The Music Theater of Lincoln Center during the 60s which I believe was produced by Richard Rodgers. Anybody have info on why that didn't continue?

The duets with Garland really were outstanding; they are the under-rated gems of her career, IMO.

[quote] The duets with Garland really were outstanding; they are the under-rated gems of her career, IM

I’ll say.

I love his version of "We Kiss in a Shadow":

He did have a nice voice. Too bad he's a Trumpster

"On the Street Where You Live" (1956) - one of his biggest hits. This recording played at the end the premiere episode of "Mad Men."

Any early photos of him with his original nose?

[quote] He was an amateur Italian...at best.

From the Times:

[quote] He was born Vito Farinola on June 12, 1928, in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, the only son among the five children of Rocco Farinola and the former Mamie Damone. His father was an electrician, and his mother taught piano

[quote] Mr. Damone’s autobiography, “Singing Was the Easy Part,” written with David Chanoff, appeared in 2009. In it, he recalled a night when a mobster, angry that he had broken off an engagement to the thug’s daughter, dangled him out of a New York hotel window. The Luciano boss Frank Costello got him off the hook, he said.“We didn’t think about it back then,” he said, “but the mob owned the nightclubs and theaters.”

Damone and Pier Angeli begin at 16:55. What a beauty!

I LOVE the name Mamie Damone!

[quote]Too bad he's a Trumpster

mobsters stick together

He had a nice voice but had an ugly birdface, was a lousy actor and by all accounts a douchebag.

I hope his buddy Trump joins him in hell as soon as possible.

Both Vic Damone and Dean Martin had sons who predeceased them. I don't wish that on anyone

bumpage

“Here’s VIC DAMONE for Coppertone!”

How come Vic Damone is darker than Diahann Carroll?

Vic on What's My Line

[quote]His son by the beautiful Pier Angeli passed away within the last couple of years.

This is what passes for "hot?"

[quote]r4 His son by the beautiful Pier Angeli passed away within the last couple of years.

Was the son fucked up from Mummy offing herself?

I wonder why his marriage to Diahnn Carroll failed. They seemed like such a perfect glamorous singing couple.

He had an amazing voice. If it was up to talent he should have had Sinatra's career.

Vic's cousin was Doretta Morrow, who had originated the role of Marsinah (Ann Blyth's movie role) in "Kismet" on Broadway. She died young of cancer, at41.