Bobby Milano, Entertainer; domestic and professional partner of Keely Smith
deb...@comcast.net
Jan.19, 2006, Desert Sun
Bobby Milano, described in a local entertainment publication just 20
days ago as "one of the valley's most endearing entertainers," died
Tuesday at Eisenhower Medical Center of liver cancer. He was 69.
Keely Smith, his domestic and professional partner of 30 years, has
arranged a rosary and prayer service for 3 to 9 p.m. Friday at Forest
Lawn Mortuary in Cathedral City.
Milano, whose real name was Charles Caci, moved to the Coachella Valley
in the 1970s and played in local nightclubs off and on until New Year's
Eve, when he performed at Tony's Pasta Mia in Palm Springs at a party
with friends including Smith, Frankie Avalon, Jerry Vale and Ralph
Young.
Supper club owner Tony Prenesti said his friends knew it would probably
be his last performance. His final loving companion, Betty Battista,
said he developed symptoms less than two months before that.
"I had to help him to the stage," said Prenesti. "But once he was on
stage, something overtook him for two hours."
Milano won a "Ted Mack Amateur Hour" contest at age 12 and cut his
first record at 16 for Essex Records. He was later signed to Capitol
Records, but the advent of rock 'n' roll, and a checkered personal
life, prevented him from achieving stardom.
"Some of the things that happened, it was not of his own doing," said
Battista. "He always felt he could entertain and make every person
enjoy his music."
Vale called him "a great guy" and "a good friend."
"He never got the recognition he deserved," Vale said. "He was a good
singer, but he never got lucky enough to get a hit record."
"He was the true meaning of the word friend," added Young. "I love him
and I miss him."
Milano produced several albums by Smith after the neo-swing movement
revived interest in her works with her ex-husband, Louis Prima.
Those albums catapulted Smith back to the big time as a jazz singer.
Milano recorded his own big-band album with Smith's music director,
Dennis Michaels, and earned rave reviews for his showcase of the music
at the Annenberg Theater. But the album wasn't released.
His cousin, jazz singer Mike Costley of Palm Desert, said Milano had
been a mentor to him since he was a kid and was the reason he had
stayed in the desert.
"He was full of a lot of love for a lot of people," Costley said. "He
had a lot of compassion. A lot of people didn't know that side of him."
Battista said friends plan to give Milano a spot on the Palm Springs
Walk of Stars on March 4.
He is survived by his daughter, Jill Caci, of Las Vegas; his sisters
Leto Concetta and Clara Marranca of Buffalo; and his brother, Vincent
(Jimmy) Caci of Palm Springs.
Funeral services will be held in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y.
deb...@comcast.net
Challenge label in 1958, "Life Begins at 4:00" ? That is one rockin'
record!
aka Bob
proffered:
>Local entertainer, Bobby Milano, dies
>
>Keely Smith, his domestic and professional partner of 30 years, has
>arranged a rosary and prayer service for 3 to 9 p.m. Friday at Forest
>Lawn Mortuary in Cathedral City.
The terminology confuses me. Keely Smith (one of my favourite
performers) is called his "domestic and professional partner" and
Betty Battista his "final loving companion." Doesn't domestic partner
mean something akin to "defacto wife"? So does "final loving
companion" mean something akin to "lover"?
>Supper club owner Tony Prenesti said his friends knew it would probably
>be his last performance. His final loving companion, Betty Battista,
>said he developed symptoms less than two months before that.
>
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
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Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
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Brad Ferguson
<bobf...@surfwriter.net.not> wrote:
> On 29 Jan 2006 18:39:11 -0800, deb...@comcast.net magnanimously
> proffered:
>
> >Local entertainer, Bobby Milano, dies
> >
> >Keely Smith, his domestic and professional partner of 30 years, has
> >arranged a rosary and prayer service for 3 to 9 p.m. Friday at Forest
> >Lawn Mortuary in Cathedral City.
>
> The terminology confuses me. Keely Smith (one of my favourite
> performers) is called his "domestic and professional partner" and
> Betty Battista his "final loving companion." Doesn't domestic partner
> mean something akin to "defacto wife"? So does "final loving
> companion" mean something akin to "lover"?
>
> >Supper club owner Tony Prenesti said his friends knew it would probably
> >be his last performance. His final loving companion, Betty Battista,
> >said he developed symptoms less than two months before that.
I took it that he'd been with Keely Smith for about 30 years, but that
the relationship had ended, and that at the time of his death he was
with Betty Battista. Keely, apparently a good sport, arranged a prayer
service, perhaps on her own. I once knew a guy whose ex-wife had a
Mass said for him after he died, even though they'd both remarried long
since.