Mario Lanza sings Vesta la Giubba

Mario Lanza (31st January 1921 - 7th October 1959) was an Italian American tenor and Hollywood movie star in the late 1940s and 1950s. Born Alfred Arnold Cocozza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was exposed to opera and singing at a young age by his Abruzzese-Molisan Italian immigrant parents, and by the age of 16 his vocal talent had become apparent. He began studying to be a professional singer at the age 15. Orchestra conductor Arturo Toscanini would reputedly later call him "the greatest voice of the twentieth century." Others referred to him as the "New Caruso," after his "instant success" in Hollywood films, while MGM hoped he would become their "singing Clark Gable" with his good looks and powerful voice.