A sad demise of another legend: Al Martino dies this Tuesday. He was 82. Al Martino got fame from his Sinatra-type role as character named Johnny Fontane in The Godfather. Martino died at his childhood home located in Philadelphia. The news of his death was released by the PR Company Rogers and Cowan. The news of his departure has saddened many. Paying a tribute to the legendary singer and actor, Jerry Blavat said, ‘”He was the last of the show business legends. There’s nobody else. The last of the performers. A magnificent voice.’

For interested readers a brief bio of Al Martino is provided here:

Al Martino, an American singer and actor, was born on 1927. During his youth days he worked with his brothers as bricklayer but was more interested in music. He took inspiration from Al Jolson and Perry Como. He served in U.S. Marines for World War II and then started his singing career. He adopted a screen name Al Martino and started singing in few nightclubs. One of his boyhood friends, who started singing before Martino, became famous as an open star. He provided Martino with opportunities, and thankfully to Martino’s friend, he landed a contract with a Philadelphian label BBS. His single ‘Here in my Heart’, which was released in 1952, was topping the UK music charts at that time. ‘Here in My Heart’ became the song which brought Martino in the mainstream. His single remained on top most position for four weeks and made record which was beaten by his other singles half a century later. Al Martino has released 33 Albums. Two more compilations of his songs were released later as separate albums.

Al Martino played the role Johnny Fontane in the 1972 hits film The Godfather as well as played its theme song. He played the same role in the film’s second and third sequels.

Martino has been called as the ‘Great Italian-American Pop Crooners’.

Al Martino Bio