Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer, actor, and television personality.
105 Facts About Perry Como
2.
Perry Como recorded primarily vocal pop and was renowned for recordings in the intimate, easy-listening genre pioneered by multimedia star Bing Crosby.
3.
Perry Como shared a Peabody Award with good friend Jackie Gleason in 1956.
4.
Posthumously, Perry Como received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 and was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
5.
Perry Como has the distinction of having three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio, television, and music.
6.
Perry Como was born in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.
7.
Perry Como was the seventh of 13 children and the first American-born child of Pietro Como and Lucia Travaglini, who both emigrated to the US in 1910 from the Abruzzese town of Palena, Italy.
8.
Perry Como did not begin speaking English until he entered school, since the Comos spoke Italian at home.
9.
The family had a second-hand organ his father had bought for $3; as soon as Perry Como was able to toddle, he would head to the instrument, pump the bellows, and play music he had heard.
10.
Perry Como showed more musical talent in his teenaged years as a trombone player in the town's brass band, playing guitar, singing at weddings, and as an organist at church.
11.
Perry Como was a member of the Canonsburg Italian Band along with bandleader Stan Vinton, who was the father of singer Bobby Vinton, and often a customer at Perry Como's barber shop.
12.
Also around this time, Perry Como lost his week's wages in a dice game.
13.
Perry Como managed to tell his father what had happened to the money his family depended on.
14.
Perry Como's father told him he was entitled to make a mistake and that he hoped his son would never do anything worse than this.
15.
When Perry Como was 14, his father became unable to work because of a severe heart condition.
16.
Perry Como had so much work after moving to the coffee house, he had to hire two barbers to help with it.
17.
Perry Como's customers worked mainly at the nearby steel mills.
18.
Perry Como did especially well when one of his customers would marry.
19.
Perry Como sang romantic songs while busying himself with the groom as the other two barbers worked with the rest of the groom's party.
20.
Perry Como became so popular as a "wedding barber" in the Greek community that he was asked to provide his services in Pittsburgh and throughout Ohio.
21.
In 1932, Perry Como left Canonsburg, moving about 100 miles away to Meadville, Pennsylvania, where his uncle had a barber shop in the Hotel Conneaut.
22.
Perry Como was terrified, but his friends urged him and pushed him onto the stage.
23.
Perry Como was not certain if he should accept the offer Freddy Carlone had made, so he returned to Canonsburg to talk the matter over with his father.
24.
Perry Como expected his father would tell him to stay in the barber business, but to his surprise, his father told him if he did not take the opportunity, he might never know whether or not he could be a professional singer.
25.
The decision was made with an eye on finances; Perry Como earned around $125 per week from his barber shop, while the job with Carlone paid $28 per week.
26.
Perry and Roselle were married in Meadville on July 31,1933; four days later, Como joined Freddy Carlone's band and began working with them.
27.
Roselle returned home to Canonsburg; Perry Como would be on the road for the next 18 months.
28.
Three years after joining the Carlone band, Perry Como moved to Ted Weems's Orchestra and his first recording dates.
29.
Perry Como initially did not take the offer to join Weems's orchestra.
30.
Weems was in need of a vocalist; Perry Como got a raise, as Weems paid him $50 per week, and his first chance for nationwide exposure.
31.
Perry Como's first recording with the Weems band was a novelty tune called "You Can't Pull the Wool Over My Eyes", recorded for the Decca Records label in May 1936.
32.
Perry Como left to be at his wife's side, though he was threatened with dismissal if he did so.
33.
Perry Como decided life on the road was no place to try raising a child, and Roselle and the baby went back to Canonsburg.
34.
In late 1942, Perry Como made the decision to quit the Weems band, even if it meant he had to give up singing.
35.
Perry Como returned to Canonsburg, his family, and his trade, weary of life on the road, and missing his wife and son.
36.
Perry Como received an offer to become a Frank Sinatra imitator, but chose to keep his own style.
37.
Perry Como fielded many other calls that brought offers, but he liked and trusted Rockwell, who was offering him his own sustaining Columbia Broadcasting System radio show and promising to get him a recording contract.
38.
Perry Como made his debut radio broadcast for CBS on March 12,1943.
39.
Sinatra would sometimes call Perry Como and ask him to fill in for him at his Paramount Theater performances.
40.
Perry Como's popularity extended to a more mature audience when he played the Versailles and returned to the Copacabana, where the management placed "SRO-Swooning Ruled Out" cards on their tables.
41.
From 1989 until his death in 2001, Como co-hosted a weekly syndicated radio show with John Knox called Weekend With Perry.
42.
Perry Como continued to do periodic engagements in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, limiting his nightclub appearances to Nevada.
43.
At the show's end, Perry Como sat in a chair, delightedly chatting back and forth with his equally delighted fans.
44.
Perry Como was invited to visit Buckingham Palace the day after the show.
45.
When word reached the Palace regarding the reason for Perry's turning down the invitation, it was then extended to include all in the Como party and Como accepted this invitation.
46.
Perry Como was on the program by special request of the Queen.
47.
In 1984, Perry Como traveled the US with his 50th Anniversary tour.
48.
Perry Como credited Bing Crosby for influencing his voice and style.
49.
Perry Como's voice is known for its good-natured vocal acrobatics as portrayed in his novelty songs such as "Hot Diggity ", but there was another side to Perry Como.
50.
Perry Como got them together so completely that the muscles don't even show.
51.
Perry Como is known to be meticulous about rehearsal of the material for an album.
52.
Perry Como tries things out in different keys, gives the song thought, makes suggestions, tries it again, and again, until he is satisfied.
53.
Perry Como never appeared to be truly comfortable in films, feeling the roles assigned him did not match his personality.
54.
Perry Como gave him a shave and haircut at the Fox Studios barber shop to prove him wrong.
55.
In 1985, Perry Como related the story of his first film role experience in Something for the Boys.
56.
Perry Como sat ready to work in his dressing room for two weeks without being called.
57.
Perry Como spent the next two weeks playing golf, still not missed by the studio.
58.
When Perry Como finally appeared, the director had no idea who he was.
59.
At the time Perry Como was signed, musical films were on the wane and he became a studio contract player, where the actors or actresses worked only when the studio needed to fill out a schedule.
60.
In most of the film Perry Como is called Eddie Anders and toward the end they start calling him Perry Como.
61.
Perry Como made the move to television when NBC initially televised the Chesterfield Supper Club radio program on December 24,1948.
62.
Years later, Perry Como admitted to being scared and feeling awkward initially but somehow managed to just be himself.
63.
Perry Como hosted this informal 15 minute musical variety series on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, following the CBS Television News.
64.
On his last CBS show, June 24,1955, Perry Como was in high spirits, bringing all those who worked off camera on the air for introductions.
65.
Perry Como tried his hand at camera work, getting a picture on the air but one that was upside-down.
66.
Perry Como moved back to NBC with The Perry Como Show, a weekly hour-long variety show featuring additional musical and production numbers, comedy sketches and guest stars premiering September 17,1955.
67.
Perry Como's relaxed and fun-loving manner at rehearsals put many nervous guests at ease.
68.
Perry Como managed to save some time by asking his music publisher, Mickey Glass, to wait in line for him at the confessional.
69.
Perry Como simply said, "Goodnight, folks," and leaped, fully clothed, into the swimming pool.
70.
On December 17,1955, viewers were able to see first-hand what Perry Como did for a living before he was a professional singer.
71.
On September 15,1956, the season premiere of The Perry Como Show was broadcast from NBC's new color television studio at the New York Ziegfeld Theatre, making it one of the first weekly color TV shows.
72.
Perry Como competed with Jackie Gleason in what was billed as the "Battle of the Giants" and won.
73.
At the height of this television competition, Perry Como asked Gleason a favor: to visit his home when his mother-in-law, a big Gleason fan, was there.
74.
Perry Como became the highest-paid performer in the history of television to that date, earning mention in the Guinness Book of World Records.
75.
Perry Como had control of the show which would replace his during the summer television hiatus.
76.
Perry Como asked Como to bring his television show to the Naval base.
77.
The first entertainers to visit the base since the crisis, the Perry Como show filmed there for eight days.
78.
Some highlights of the program, which was seen in the US on December 12,1962, included Como's shaving a serviceman with a Castro-like beard and the enthusiastic participation when Perry asked for volunteers to come on stage to do the Twist with the lovely ladies who were part of the visiting dance troupe.
79.
Perry Como asked his associate, Ray Charles, to write English lyrics for the song, using it many times on both television shows and his Christmas albums.
80.
Perry Como had numerous Christmas television specials, beginning on Christmas Eve 1948, and continuing to 1994, when his final Christmas special was recorded in Ireland.
81.
Perry Como filled the yearly gap for his fans with live Christmas concerts in various locations.
82.
Perry Como's Irish Christmas was a Public Broadcasting Service production, made by an Irish independent production company in association with RTE.
83.
Perry Como, appearing aged and unwell, had the flu during the show, which took four hours to record.
84.
At the show's conclusion, Perry Como apologized to his Dublin audience for a performance he felt was not up to his usual standards.
85.
The owners, lifelong fans who named their business in his honor, had sent photographs of the shop and letters to Perry Como inviting him to visit.
86.
In 1929, the 17-year-old Perry Como met Roselle Belline at a picnic on Chartiers Creek that attracted many young people from the Canonsburg area.
87.
Perry Como, who attended the cookout with another girl, did not spot Roselle until everyone was around the campfire singing and the gathering was coming to a close.
88.
When it came Perry Como's turn to sing, he chose "More Than You Know", with his eyes on Roselle for the entire song.
89.
Perry Como, who sat in a side wing of the Long Island church where he attended Sunday Mass in an effort to avoid attracting attention, was both puzzled and upset on returning home that photos from the visit made the newspapers throughout the world.
90.
When Perry and Roselle became Knight Commander and Lady Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in 1952, it was a news item only after Archbishop Fulton J Sheen, who had been honored at the same ceremony, mentioned it some time later.
91.
Como suffered a debilitating fall from a stage platform in 1971 while taping Perry Como's Winter Show in Hollywood.
92.
Perry Como chartered a jet back to his home and doctors in Florida, where a second exam showed it had been seriously broken.
93.
Perry Como's knee was re-set and placed in a cast with a recuperation time of eight months.
94.
Perry Como was an avid and accomplished golfer; there was always time to try getting in a game of golf.
95.
Perry Como's colleagues held an annual Perry Como Golf Tournament to honor him and his love for the game.
96.
Perry Como enjoyed fishing and he could be found out on his boat almost daily after the family moved to Florida.
97.
Perry Como used his boat as a rehearsal hall with pre-recorded instrumental tapes sent to him by RCA Victor.
98.
Perry Como discouraged photos of his home, as it was his private place to get away from the celebrity life.
99.
Perry Como died in his sleep on May 12,2001, at his home in Jupiter Inlet Colony, Florida, six days before his 89th birthday.
100.
Perry Como was reported to have suffered from symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
101.
Perry Como received the 1959 Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male; five Emmys from 1955 to 1959; a Christopher Award and shared a Peabody Award with good friend Jackie Gleason in 1956.
102.
Posthumously, Perry Como received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002; he was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
103.
Perry Como has the distinction of having three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio, television, and music.
104.
Perry Como was not present at the unveiling because of poor health.
105.
Palena, Italy, the birthplace of Perry Como's parents, had a long-standing week-long festival in honor of the singer.