Mario Lanza: The Best of Everything

Mario Lanza was the most famous tenor the world had ever known. The greatest tenors of the modern era – Pavarotti, Carreras, Domingo and Bocelli – all trace their inspiration back to Lanza who became the first true crossover artist when MGM made him a matinee idol during the 1950s with box office hits such as The Toast of New Orleans, The Great Caruso and The Student Prince. One gold disc followed another with operatic arias and pop hits such as The Loveliest Night of the Year, Because, Che Gelida Manina, Golden Days and his signature ballad, Be My Love. Lanza was idolized but within ten years his star had burned itself out and he was dead at just thirty eight years old. It was the first in a long list of tragic deaths of stars battling to live with fame and its darker side. Lanza was a Hollywood film star, but the most dramatic role he ever played was that of Mario Lanza himself. It was a life overflowing with fame, passion, tantrums, success, vices, generosity and incomprehensible tragedies. And it was played to a soundtrack of one of the most beautiful singing voices ever heard. This is the Mario Lanza story…