- Born
- Died
- Birth nameAlfred Cini
- Height5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
- Al Martino was born on October 7, 1927 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part III (1990) and The Batman (2022). He was married to Judith Martino. He died on October 13, 2009 in Springfield, Pennsylvania, USA.
- SpouseJudith Martino(1969 - October 13, 2009) (his death)
- ChildrenAlison MartinoDana MacIsaac
- Mob-related problems forced him to leave the U.S. for England for a time in the 1950s. He returned to the U.S. in 1958. His character in The Godfather (1972), a mob-backed crooner, was supposedly based on Frank Sinatra, yet contained parallels to his own life--he was dogged throughout his life by allegations that his career was due to his connections to mob bosses, and in fact admitted in an interview that he got the part in "The Godfather" due partly to pressure brought about by his "godfather", New York Mafia don Russell Buffalino.
- The son of Italian immigrants, he was a childhood friend of famed opera singer Mario Lanza.
- Served in the U.S. Navy during WWII and was wounded during the invasion of Iwo Jima in the Pacific.
- Was the very first artist to have a number one single in the UK. "Here In My Heart" was at the top of the very first chart compiled on 14 November 1952; it stayed there for a total of nine weeks
- His biggest hits as a singer, primarily on the Capitol label in the USA, were "Here in My Heart", "I Love You More and More Every Day", "Spanish Eyes" and "Mary in the Morning".
- [on how he secured the role of Johnny Fontane in The Godfather (1972)] Didn't the Don send Tom Hagen to convince Jack Woltz that Johnny Fontane must be in the movie? Isn't it similar to what I did? Woltz didn't want Johnny, and Coppola [Francis Ford Coppola] didn't want me. There was no horse's head, but I had ammunition... I had to step on some toes to get people to realize that I was in the effing movie. I went to my godfather, [Mafia boss] Russ Bufalino.
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