Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian and American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racer.
20 Facts About Guy Lombardo
2.
Guy Lombardo was born in London, Ontario, Canada, to Italian immigrants Gaetano Alberto and Angelina Guy Lombardo.
3.
Guy Lombardo's father, who had worked as a tailor, was an amateur singer with a baritone voice and had four of his five sons learn to play instruments so they could accompany him.
4.
Guy Lombardo first performed in public with his brother Carmen at a church lawn party in London in 1914.
5.
In 1938, Guy Lombardo became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
6.
Guy Lombardo is remembered for almost a half-century of New Year's Eve big band remotes, first on radio, then on television.
7.
Guy Lombardo's orchestra played at the Roosevelt Grill in the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City from 1929 to 1959, and from then until 1976 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
8.
On December 31,1956, the Guy Lombardo band did their first New Year's TV special on CBS; the program included a live segment from Times Square.
9.
In 1954, Lombardo briefly hosted a half-hour syndicated series called The Guy Lombardo Show, and in 1956 Lombardo hosted a show on CBS for three months called Guy Lombardo's Diamond Jubilee.
10.
Guy Lombardo then went on to win the Ford Memorial competition in 1948 and the President's Cup and the Silver Cup in 1952.
11.
From 1946 to 1949, Guy Lombardo was the reigning US national champion.
12.
In 1959 Guy Lombardo was attempting a run on the absolute water speed record with the jet engine-powered Tempo Alcoa when it was destroyed on a radio-controlled test run doing over 250 miles per hour.
13.
Guy Lombardo invested in a nearby seafood restaurant called "Liota's East Point House" that eventually became "Guy Lombardo's East Point House".
14.
Guy Lombardo became a promoter and musical director of Jones Beach Marine Theater.
15.
On November 5,1977, Guy Lombardo died of a heart attack.
16.
Guy Lombardo was featured on a postage stamp issued on December 17,1999, as part of Canada Post's Millennium Collection.
17.
Guy Lombardo has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.
18.
Guy Lombardo was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2007.
19.
The Guy Lombardo Society is dedicated to preserving the music and history of Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians.
20.
Lebert Guy Lombardo's children have an extensive collection of artifacts, including photographs, record albums, sheet music, awards, and the band's framed first paycheck from 1918 in their homes and storage units in Fort Myers and Sanibel, Florida.