Mario Lanza's Unknown "Son" ?
mikes...@webtv.net
really an opera fan, but i DO know who mario lanza was. i met a man in
his 50's who claims to be one of 2 love children of mario lanza. he is
an aquatinance i met at work in the L.A. area. he mentioned it to me
almost casually at first, and asked me if i knew 'who mario lanza was'.
and i told him of course i did. (he said a lot of people don't know). he
says his father had 2 other children out of wedlock that people don't
know about, and he is one of them.
he hasn't changed his story since he told me this a few weeks ago, and
on a 2nd occasion more recently. i told him to show me some proof, like
childhood pictures with his father, and he said he would look around. i
only see him once in a while, and don't know when i will see him again,
so i don't know if he will follow thru, (i don't have his email). yes, i
know there are a lot of kooks out there who claim to be the 'son of
so-and-so', either living in a fantasy world, or maybe to get attention.
but he has stuck to his story quite matter of factly, and is almost
reluctant to tell me more. he says he is tired of explaining it to
people. so, i was wondering if anybody has ever heard anything about
this ??? TIA.
missussex
Mario Lanza was known to have had many extramarital affairs, according
to his biographer Roland L. Bessette ("Mario Lanza: Tenor In Exile,"
Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 1999). So Mike, it's possible that the
man you met was telling the truth. The biography states that Lanza
abused alcohol and drugs and, when under the influence, he was not
very choosy about the women he took up with. This might explain your
acquaintance's reluctance to speak about his parentage.
shortspark
There have been many such stories floating around about Lanza's "love
children". Almost all those that have surfaced have involved wannabe
singers, tenors to be specific. Here is just one, a guy who use to
claim to be "Victor Lanza" but who was found to be a fraud and
returned to use what (I assume) was his real name of Leonardo Lamare.
You can hear in the clip (linked below) that he takes on the Lanza
mannerisms of singing and tries to copy Lanza note for note. In fact,
although Lanza was an Italian-American, Lamare is Mexican! However,
he had a lot of people convinced for quite some time that he was the
son of Mario Lanza and I'm sure that alone got him a lot of gigs. I
can't say for certain that Mario Lanza did not have illegitimate
children but I've seen no proof of it over the years (and the man has
been dead for over 50 years), even if the womanizer stories are true.
Heck, he was still a young man when he died and he had two boys and
two daughters of his own with his wife, Betty. BTW, there are several
biographies of Lanza that are more telling and far less sensational in
orientation than Bessette. Do not take to the bank half of what he
has to say.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIitOzmh_ZA
shortspark
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)
mikes...@webtv.net wrote:
> i hesitate to post this, but will throw it out here anyway. i am not
> really an opera fan, but i DO know who mario lanza was. i met a man in
> his 50's who claims to be one of 2 love children of mario lanza. he is
> an aquatinance i met at work in the L.A. area. he mentioned it to me
> almost casually at first, and asked me if i knew 'who mario lanza was'.
> and i told him of course i did. (he said a lot of people don't know). he
> says his father had 2 other children out of wedlock that people don't
> know about, and he is one of them.
Which "Mario Lanza"? The original (actually BAPTIZED with that name),
who conducted the Santa Monica Civic Opera back in the 1960's, or the
movie actor (who had changed his name from something totally different)?
I'm not sure the conductor had any children, and his pianist wife
(Jessie, IIRC) was the only musician in the pair. (I clearly recall a
rehearsal of "Hansel and Gretel" when he was cuing the chorus with "one,
two, three, four...." and she remarked "But dear, it's in THREE!")
stillp...@gmail.com
80's who told me the very same story. Please tell me: were this person's
initials "P.L." by any chance ? Thanks, willie...@hotmail.com
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)
stillp...@gmail.com wrote:
> I wonder, as I met someone in L.A. when I lived and worked there in the
> 80's who told me the very same story. Please tell me: were this person's
> initials "P.L." by any chance ? Thanks, willie...@hotmail.com
conducted the Santa Monica Civic Opera, back in the 1960's, but SFAIK he
was no relation. (Anyway, he was an old man then, so would have been
more likely to claim to be the actor's father, rather than his son.)
