Jazz singer, actor, trumpeter, and Songwriter who performed with Keely Smith. He got his star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 2010.
He had a racially tolerant childhood growing up with the black community in New Orleans. He dropped out of high school and performed with groups like the Ellis Stratako Orchestra.
He embraced rock 'n' roll, unlike a lot of other classic crooners like Frank Sinatra.
He married five times: first to Louise Polizzi in 1929, then to Alma Ross in 1935, then to Tracelene Barrett in 1948, then to Keely Smith in 1953, and finally to Gia Maione in 1962.
Listening to Louis Armstrong encouraged him to explore the jazz field.
