Tony Fontane (born Anthony Trankina; September 18, 1925 – June 30, 1974) was an American
recording artist
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...
in the 1940s and 1950s who gave up his career in popular music to become a
gospel singer
Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...
following a near-fatal car accident in 1957. His clear tenor voice served as his most prominent feature. His career singing gospel music was successful in his day, leading him to performing in concert halls and churches around the globe and recording many albums.
Biography
Early life
Tony Fontane was born Anthony Trankina on September 18, 1925, in
Ann Arbor, Michigan, the son of Joseph and Raphaella Trankina. His father, a railroad worker for the
Michigan Central Railroad, converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
in 1929 and a few years later moved the family to
Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he operated a
mission
Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to:
Organised activities Religion
*Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity
*Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
. The family lived in poverty, and Fontane grew up despising the mission and its work. It was during this time that he developed a strong hatred for all religions, embracing
atheism.
From an early age, he showed an interest in singing. He became accomplished enough that he frequently sang in church services at the mission and, while still in high school, won the Dakota State Achievement award in a vocal contest. He was offered a musical scholarship at
Michigan State University, but instead ran off with a dance band wearing a mascara mustache to disguise his age. Six weeks after a statewide alarm was issued, he was returned home.
Popular career
Fontane moved to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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to live with his aunt, and tried unsuccessfully to break into show business while still in high school. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, he lied about his age to join the
Coast Guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...
. After the war, he assumed the stage name of Tony Fontane and moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, looking for work as a singer, but did not have much success. He finally landed a spot on the
Major Bowes Original Amateur Hour, which he won. Fontane became an instant sensation; according to his biography, "A Bargain With God," he was one of only two performers on the Amateur Hour to ever be called back for an encore – the first being
Frank Sinatra.
Moving once more to Chicago, Fontane appeared on television shows such as "Teen Town", "The Tony Fontane Show", and "Top Tunes With Trendler". He appeared on the shows of
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New Yor ...
,
Steve Allen
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...
,
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist.
As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, W ...
, and
Eddie Bracken
Edward Vincent Bracken (February 7, 1915 – November 14, 2002) was an American actor. Bracken became a Hollywood comedy legend with lead performances in the films '' Hail the Conquering Hero'' and '' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' both from ...
, and became a sought-after nightclub and Las Vegas act. A recording contract with
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...
led to his hit single, "
Cold, Cold Heart
"Cold, Cold Heart" is a country music and pop song written and first recorded by Hank Williams. This blues ballad is both a classic of honky-tonk and an entry in the ''Great American Songbook''.
Hank Williams version
Williams adapted the melod ...
" (Mercury 5693) in November 1951. While
Tony Bennett
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...
took the song to #1 on the pop chart that year, Fontane's version of the song reached #28 on the Hit Parade, surpassing the version by
Hank Williams, who wrote the song.
Fontane married actress Kerry Vaughn on May 2, 1950, and toured with her in
Australia in the musical comedy, "
Zip Goes a Million". Vaughn, a golden-haired beauty who once performed as a stand-in for
Lana Turner
Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized pe ...
and appeared in the cult classic "
Prehistoric Women,"
IMDB: Prehistoric Women
/ref> became known in Australia as a second Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
. Vaughn and Fontane were popular abroad and appeared on the covers of many magazines. The couple had a daughter, Char Fontane
Char "Kaci" Fontane (January 12, 1952 – April 1, 2007) was an American actress and singer.
She was born Kerry Charae Fontane in Los Angeles, to singer Tony Fontane and his wife, actress Kerry Vaughn Fontane. Early in her career, Fontane wo ...
(born January 12, 1952; died April 1, 2007).
Near-death experience and conversion
On the afternoon of September 3, 1957, Fontane finished a rehearsal for a television special at NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
and was driving to his home in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California
Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and the ...
, when another motorist ran a red light and plowed into the driver's side of Fontane's sports car. It took rescue workers more than 2½ hours to extricate the singer from his vehicle; one person on the scene took his pulse and declared that he was dead. In fact, he was barely alive, and was rushed to the hospital where he remained in a coma, on the brink of death, for 30 days. His injuries included two broken legs, a crushed chest, massive head injuries, broken ribs, cracked vertebrae, and severe internal injuries.
Fontane later wrote that while he was in his coma, he had a vision that God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
came to him and offered him one more chance. When he came out of his coma, Fontane not only gave up atheism but converted to Christianity. When he abandoned his popular career and refused to sing anything other than gospel music, he was sued by the William Morris Agency
The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ag ...
for breach of contract and lost everything.
Gospel career
Once again living in extreme poverty, Fontane made the rounds of churches asking to sing for them. Fontane got his break in the gospel music industry when Phil Kerr, organizer of the Monday Night Musicals at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, asked him to perform in concert, and following that appearance, Fontane became one of the busiest gospel singers in the world. He recorded albums, made a film about his life's story, and performed in churches, civic auditoriums, schools, military bases and concert halls.
Fontane continued his busy performance schedule throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s, even traveling several times to Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
to sing for American troops stationed there. He also performed for four U.S. Presidents—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
, John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
, Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
and Richard M. Nixon. But his life began to unravel in 1973 when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and given only a year to live. Despite undergoing several unsuccessful operations, he continued to sing. Four days before his death, he went to an Orange County, California, church where two men—one on each side of him—helped stand him up for his last concert. He sang " Just As I Am". Two days later, his pancreas ruptured, and he was rushed to a Canoga Park hospital.
On June 30, 1974, Fontane died at the age of 48. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Discography
Although a small selection of his popular and gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
recordings are available in MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
format online, the majority of Fontane's music may largely be found in antique stores and Internet auctions.
Albums
*''The Touch of His Hand'', RCA Victor LPM/LSP-2093, 1959
*''He Leads Me'', RCA Victor LPM/LSP-2215, 1960
*''Tony Fontane Sings His Most Requested Hymns'', RCA Victor LPM/LSP-2301, 1961
*''Tony Fontane Sings the Songs from The Tony Fontane Story'', RCA Victor LPM/LSP-2526, 1962
*''The Hymns My Mother Sang'', RCA Victor LPM/LSP-2751, 1963
*''Tony Fontane Sings Concert Tour Favorites'', RCA Victor LPM/LSP-2869, 1964
*''An Evening Concert by Tony Fontane'', RCA Victor LPM/LSP-3383, 1965
*''Farther Than My Eyes Can See'', RCA Victor LPM/LSP-3572, 1966
*''Tony Fontane Sings of Decision-Comfort-Assurance'', RCA Victor LPM/LSP-3800, 1967
*Tony Fontane with The Statesmen Quartet
The Statesmen Quartet (also known as Hovie Lister and The Statesmen Quartet) were an American southern gospel quartet founded in 1948 by Baptist Minister Hovie Lister. Along with the Blackwood Brothers, the Statesmen Quartet were considered the ...
: ''Standing on the Promises'', RCA Victor LPM/LSP-3939, 1968
Further reading
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontane, Tony
1925 births
1974 deaths
American gospel singers
Deaths from cancer in California
Converts to Protestantism from atheism or agnosticism
Deaths from prostate cancer
People from Grand Forks, North Dakota
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
20th-century American singers
United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II
Child soldiers in World War II