Mario Lanza

ABOUT MARIO LANZA

Opera tenor who acted in 1940s Hollywood movies like The Great Caruso and who performed in the opera Madame Butterfly in New Orleans.

He was offered a full scholarship to the Berkshire Music Center after impressing Serge Koussevitzky .

His movie debut was in the 1949 film That Midnight Kiss.

He married Elizabeth Jeannette "Betty" Hicks on April 12, 1945 and had four children with her.

Lanza's music and persona were used in Heavenly Creatures, the 1994 film by Peter Jackson .