Rosemary Clooney

Question: When I was a kid, my family used to always watch Perry Como Christmas specials. We loved them every year. But one thing I was never able to figure out: Who was he? Did he have his own show or something?

Answer: Not only did he have his own show, Kenny, he had several (both radio and TV), not to mention a long, successful music career. Matter of fact, Como's life in the biz was remarkable for precisely the reason you give: Like the Energizer bunny, he kept going, and going, and going — well into the rock-and-roll era, when many other crooners like him had long faded into obscurity.

Como started out, interestingly enough, as a barber when he was still in high school, but was already singing at weddings even then. In 1933 he began singing in bands and built enough of a following (and enough hit records) that NBC hired him to cohost The Chesterfield Supper Club radio show, which moved to TV in 1 read more