Vic Damone (born June 12, 1928 - 11.2.2018) was an American singer and entertainer. Sinatra is often quoted as saying, "Vic Damone has the best pipes in the business." The rest of the sentence is not often printed: "but he doesn't always know what to do with them." That's the Damone curse. He has a glorious voice -- like a 1940s Sinatra with a touch of Torme -- that has hardly aged a day over the years.
Damone was born Vito Rocco Farinola in Brooklyn, New York to Italian immigrants Rocco and Mary (Damone) Farinola. His father was an electrician; his mother taught piano. Inspired by his favourite singer, Frank Sinatra, Damone began taking voice lessons. When his father was injured at work, Damone had to drop out of high school. He worked as an usher and elevator operator in the Paramount Theatre, in Manhattan. He met Perry Como, who asked him into his dressing room to sing for him. Impressed, Como referred him to a local bandleader. Farinola decided to call himself Vic Damone, using his mother's maiden name.
Damone entered the talent search on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and won in April 1947. This led to his becoming a regular on Godfrey's show. He met Milton Berle at the studio and Berle got him work at two night clubs. By mid 1947, Damone had signed a contract with Mercury Records.
His first release, "I Have But One Heart", reached #7 on the Billboard chart. "You Do" (released November 1) reached the same peak. These were followed by a number of other hits. In 1948 he got his own weekly radio show, Saturday Night Serenade.
In 1951, Damone appeared in two movies: The Strip and Rich, Young, and Pretty. From 1951 to 1953 he served in the United States Army, but before going into the service he recorded a number of songs which were released during that time. He served with future Northwest Indiana radio personality Al Evans, and also country music star Johnny Cash.
After leaving the service, he married an Italian American actress, Anna Maria Pierangeli, and in 1954 made two more movies: Deep in My Heart and Athena. He also made some guest appearances on Milton Berle's television show in 1954. He appeared as Stan Skylar in the 1960 episode "Piano Man" of CBS's anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson.
1955 was a poor year for Damone. He only had one song on the charts, "Por Favor," which did not make it above #73. However, he did have a major role in the movie musical, Kismet. In early 1956, he was dropped by Mercury, but was able to sign with Columbia Records and had some success on that label with hits like "On the Street Where You Live" (from My Fair Lady, his final pop top ten) and "An Affair to Remember" (from the movie of the same name).
In 1961, he was released by Columbia, moving over to Capitol Records, where he filled in the gap left by Frank Sinatra's leaving to help found Reprise Records. He lasted at Capitol only until 1965; however, he recorded some of his most highly-regarded albums there, including two which made the Billboard chart, Linger Awhile with Vic Damone and The Lively Ones, the latter with arrangements by Billy May, who also arranged another of Damone's Capitol albums, Strange Enchantment.
Damone moved next to Warner Bros. Records. On Warners he had one chart hit: "You Were Only Fooling (While I Was Falling In Love)." The next year he moved again, to RCA Records, but in 1969 he released his last US chart record, a cover of the 1966 song "To Make A Big Man Cry", which made the Billboard Easy Listening chart.
In 1971, Damone started touring Las Vegas casinos as a performer, and although he had to declare bankruptcy in the early 1970s, he earned enough as a casino performer to clear up his financial difficulties. He extended his geographical range, touring through the United States and the United Kingdom, and as a result of his popularity decided to record some albums again, releasing them on the RCA label.
His final album was issued in 2002, with other albums being re-packaged and re-released. He has recorded over 2,000 songs over his entire career.
One of his final public performances was on January 19, 2002 at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in Palm Beach, Florida. Damone suffered a stroke the same year and subsequently retired. Damone did however step out of retirement on January 22, 2011, when he once again performed at the Kravis Performing Arts Center in Palm Beach, Florida to a sold out crowd. Damone dedicated this performance to his six grandchildren who had never seen him perform.
In December 2, 2011, at the age of 83, Damone launched an official Facebook profile dedicated to his fans. In addition to posting recent photos Damone writes that besides spending time with his family he spends his retirement enjoying golf and football. He lives in Palm Beach County, Florida.
In January 2015, Damone and his wife parted ways with La Casita, their landmarked residence at 200 Via Bellaria. The house sold for $5.75 million. Damone and his wife have since downsized to a townhouse in Sloan’s Curve.
