Movie Life - Yearbook
Movie Life of Mario Lanza
1952, Vol. 1, No. 14
Full of Heart and Power, That Tremendous
Voice Warms Every Moviegoer Because It Springs from a Life
That's Been Warm with Family Love and Friendship
He sings because he has to. And when he sings everyone has to listen. It's been that way ever since young Mario Lanza filled his mind with great muic from his father's phonograph. The emotion he felt spilled over into song, and when his father heard that voice, Mario's future was settled. In the years that followed, that voice found more and more eager listeners. Even when the going seemed tough and money was short, somebody always turned up to lend an ear and a helping hand. Symphony conductors, movie producers, rival singers, high-school classmates, Army pals - none of them could escape the magic. When he was married, his wife happily accepted that voice as a looming fact that would always shape their life. It's a great voice; even the opera experts who call it untrained have to admit this much. So does Mario, since he isn't hard of hearing. To pretend that he considered himself only a crooner would be the cheapest of poses. Here's a character as big and free as his voice. All he needed was a movie to match its size. |
 New York City was scene of Alfredo Arnold Cocozza's birth, on January 31, 1921. For bravery in World War I, papa Antonio had won a medal - and wounds that left him disabled; so mama Maria worked to eke out pension, support only child. |  Whle Mario-to-be was still a baby, the Cocozzas moved to South Philadelphia. The neighbohood wasn't swank, but they lived comfortably in a six-room house at 2040 Mercy street. Of Italian descent on both sides, Mario had heritage of music. |
 Two-Year-Old was adored by maternal grandparents, the Salvatore Lanzas, with whom Mario and parents later lived, Grandpa still owns wholesale grocery firm. |  Then nicknamed Freddie, he had earnest portrait taken after first communion. At seven, he already loved opera music; played Dad's many records over and over. |
 Another important occasion - confirmation - meant another portrait, with Uncle Bob. Proper as Mario looks here, he now admits he was a rowdy youngster. |  At 13 (with uncles Arnold and Bob Lanza), Mario was big for his age. But M. H. Richards, principal of South Philadelphia High, recalls of later teens: "He was a little too immature to take his school work seriously." He'd tell his class opera stories in Italain, scene by scene; sing themes. |
 New York Herald Tribune tribute. |  Husky 15-year-old (here in Wildwood, N.J.) thought vaguely of law career. But he began singing with Dad's records; started voice lessons at 20. Audition for famed conductor Serge Koussevitzky resulted in his debut at Tanglewood, Mass., in 1942. |