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Como died in his sleep at 3:40 p.m. EDT, his daughter Terry Thibadeau said.
"We spent two
beautiful hours (Friday) with dad, me and my grandson, Holden,"
Thibadeau told The Palm Beach Post. "We shared ice
cream. It was a wonderful moment for us."
The charming
Italian-American whose name became synonymous with mellow performed through
seven decades, starting in the 1930s. His idol, the late singer Bing Crosby,
once called Como "the man who
invented casual."
Top Crooner of His Era
Como left his job as a
steel town barber to sing with big bands in the 1930s and his songs were a
mainstay of radio and jukeboxes in the late 1940s. He helped pioneer variety
shows on the new medium of television in the 1950s and performed on
television specials over the last four decades. His music remained popular in
recent years on easy listening radio.
In 1945, Como had his first
million-selling hit, "Till the End of Time." It was among many
songs including "Prisoner of Love" that topped the charts. He
competed with Frank Sinatra and Crosby to be the era's top crooner.
While Como emulated Crosby in his early years,
some of his best-known numbers were light novelty songs like "Hot
Diggity" and "Papa Loves Mambo." He made a brief foray into
wartime movie musicals in Hollywood, but decided to pursue
a career in radio.
Como often said he far
preferred singing romantic ballads to some of the lightweight numbers, but
the novelty songs were a frequent audience request.
"They get tired of
hearing `Melancholy Baby' and those mushy things," Como said in a 1994
interview. "But those are the songs that, as a singer, you love to
sing."
Some music experts say Como, with his naturally
melodic baritone voice, might have carved a deeper niche if he had taken
firmer control of his material.
Will Friedwald, author
of "Jazz Singing" and an expert of music from Como's era, once called Como "a marvelous
singer" who "seemed to do everything they put in front of
him."
Como made his television
debut in 1948 on NBC's "The Chesterfield Supper Club" and in 1950
he switched to CBS for "The Perry Como Show," which ran for five
years. Como then returned to NBC
for a variety show that ran for eight years, first on Saturday nights
opposite Jackie Gleason, then on Tuesday night.
In 1963, he gave up the
regular television show and began doing occasional specials. Rock 'n' roll had
crowded out the crooners who once charmed hordes of screaming bobby-soxers.
Christmas Was Como's
His career saw a
resurgence in the 1970s with songs like "It's Impossible,"
"And I Love You So" and several best-selling Christmas albums.
In 1994, Como put out a three-CD
boxed set including his most popular songs since he started recording in
1943. And his former hit, "Catch a Falling Star," became familiar
to a new generation of fans when it became part of the Clint Eastwood-Kevin
Costner movie "A Perfect World."
Como said he occasionally
tired of the jokes about his somnambulant style, although he found a skit on
the SCTV comedy show particularly amusing. The spot showed a Como impersonator lying on
the floor nearly comatose with a microphone in front of his barely moving
lips as dancers leaped about him.
His casual legend grew
from his first pressure-packed appearances on the pioneering medium of live
television — with its crashing scenery, misplaced cue cards and camera
confusion.
"I decided the only
thing to do was take it as it came," he recalled in a 1985 interview.
"People wrote in asking how I could be so casual. It all started to
grow."
At 14 Opened His Own Barber Business
Pierino Roland Como was
born May 18, 1913, in Canonsburg, Pa., the middle offspring
of 13 children of Italian immigrants.
At age 11, he went to
work sweeping floors after school at a barbershop in the town just south of Pittsburgh. He got lessons on how
to cut the hair of coal miners and other workers, and by the age of 14 he had
his own barber business earning $150 a week. His pay dropped off during the
Depression when he went to work for another barber.
But he got an offer to
sing with Freddie Carlone's band in Cleveland in the early 1930s. He
began his rise in show business when he was signed to sing with Ted Weems big
band in 1936, a relationship that continued for six years.
In 1943, he began what
turned into a 50-year contract with RCA-Victor Records with the recording of
the song "Goodbye Sue."
In his later years, Como lived in a private
semiretirement with his wife Roselle, whom he met at a
picnic when he was 16 and married in 1933. They divided their time between
the North Carolina mountains and the Palm Beach County town of Jupiter where he played golf, took long, brisk walks and entertained his
grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mrs. Como died in August 1998, less
than two weeks after she and Como celebrated their 65th
wedding anniversary. She was 84.
He reappeared on
television periodically for Christmas television specials from exotic,
international locales. Even as he grew older, the graying Como retained a tanned, fit
appearance and youthful charm.
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