Baritone crooner Damone dies
Long career began in 1940s when he mimicked Sinatra
MIAMI — Vic Damone, whose mellow baritone once earned praise from Frank Sinatra as “the best pipes in the business,” has died in Florida at the age of 89, his daughter said.
Victoria Damone told The Associated Press in a phone interview Monday that her father died Sunday at a Miami Beach hospital from complications of a respiratory illness.
Damone’s easy-listening romantic ballads brought him million-selling records and sustained a half-century career in recordings, movies and nightclub, concert and television appearances.
Damone’s career began climbing in the 1940s after he won a tie on the radio show “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Hunt.” His hit singles included “Again,” “You’re Breaking My Heart,” “My Heart Cries for You,” “On the Street Where You Live” and, in 1957, the title song of the Cary Grant film “An Affair to Remember.”
Damone’s style as a lounge singer remained constant through the years: straightforward, concentrated on melody and lyrics without resorting to vocal gimmicks. Like many young singers of his era, he idolized Sinatra.
“I tried to mimic him,” Damone said in a 1992 interview with Newsday. “I decided that if I could sound like Frank maybe I did have a chance. I was singing his words, breathing his breaths, (doing) his interpretation, with the high notes, the synergy.”
Sinatra and Damone, along with Tony Bennett, Perry Como, Dean Martin and others, formed a group of Italian Americans who dominated the postwar pop music field. And far from resenting the mimicry, Sinatra praised Damone’s singing ability.
Born Vito Farinola in Brooklyn, New York, on June 12, 1928 to immigrants from Bari, Italy, Damone adopted his mother’s maiden name when he began his career, after catching an early break while working as an usher at the Paramount Theater in New York City, according to a family statement.
The 14-year-old bumped into
Perry Como in an elevator at the theater, stopped it between floors, and started singing. Then he asked Como whether he should continue voice lessons, and Como said simply, “Keep singing!” and referred him to a local bandleader.
Damone, who was married three times, including a nine-year marriage to actress-singer Diahann Carroll, is survived by two sisters, his three daughters and six grandchildren.