Dick Contino

Dick Contino

Dick Contino (born January 17, 1930, Fresno, California) is an American accordionist and singer.

Contino studied accordion primarily with San Francisco-based Angelo Cognazzo, and occasionally with Los Angeles-based Guido Deiro. Early on he exhibited great virtuosity on the instrument. Although he graduated from Fresno High School in 1947 and enrolled at Fresno State College, he was unable to concentrate on his studies. Contino explained, "I enjoyed college, but while attending classes I kept thinking that if I was going to be a success, it would be my music that would take me there." [1]

Contino got his big break on December 7, 1947 when he played Lady of Spain (his signature piece) and won first place in the Horace Heidt/Philip Morris talent contest in Fresno which was broadcast on national radio. Contino also won first place in subsequent competitions in Los Angeles, Omaha, Des Moines, Youngstown, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and New York City. He won first place in the final round on December 12, 1948 in Washington, D.C. Contino had a hit single with Lady of Spain in early 1949. The song peaked at #47 on the US pop charts. Eddie Fisher had much better success with the song 1952.

Contino toured with the Horace Heidt Orchestra and was billed as the "world's greatest accordion player." He appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show a record 48 times.

However, his success was interrupted when Contino was drafted during the Korean War. Contino, at the time earning a reported $4,000 per week, ran away from pre-induction barracks at Fort Ord,[2] and was jailed for a few months for draft dodging before serving in the United States armed forces. The resultant scandal dealt Contino's career a serious blow, but he continued performing, including acting in a few movies in the 1950s and 1960s.

Contino's acting became known to a new generation in 1991, when "Daddy-O," a low-budget 1958 movie in which he played the starring role as a faddishly-dressed beat rebel and singer, became the centerpiece of an episode of the third season of "Mystery Science Theatre 3000."

Contino continues to perform regularly throughout the United States. His repertoire is eclectic, ranging from Italian songs such as "Come Back to Sorrento" and "Arrivederci Roma" to standards like "Lady of Spain" and "Swinging on a Star." He possesses a virtuosic technique (often incorporating extremely rapid fingering, glissandos, and bellows shakes) and is also a skilled jazz improvisor.

James Ellroy wrote a novella, Dick Contino's Blues, which is a mini-memoir and crime story based on Contino's experiences as a struggling artist after the war. It is included in the 1994 Ellroy short story collection Hollywood Nocturnes. A version appeared in issue number 46 of Granta magazine (Winter 1994) along with several photographs of Contino and the author. Ellroy also penned a short story entitled Hollywood Shakedown which appeared in his collected work "Crime Wave" and featured Contino as the central character. The story is entirely fictitious as it features numerous incidents of violence and murder which Contino had never been linked with or accused of in reality.

Contino is married and lives in Las Vegas, Nevada

References

  1. ^ Dick Contino, cited by Bob Bove, with Lou Angellotti, in "Accordion Man: The Legendary Dick Contino" (Father and Son Publishing, Inc., Tallahassee: 1994)
  2. ^ Contino Offers to Enlist if Allowed to Get Well Toledo Blade - April 23, 1951, page 3

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dick Contino — est un acteur américain né le 17 janvier 1930 à Fresno, Californie (États Unis). Sommaire 1 Biographie 2 Filmographie 3 Récompenses et nominations …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Hollywood Nocturnes —   …   Wikipedia

  • Daddy-O — For other uses, see Daddy O (disambiguation). Daddy O Directed by Lou Place Produced by Elmer C. Rhoden, Jr …   Wikipedia

  • Leigh Snowden — infobox actress birthname=Martha Lee Estes birthdate=birth date|1929|6|23 birthplace=Covington, Tennessee deathdate=death date and age|1982|5|11|1929|6|23 deathplace=North Hollywood, California occupation=Film, television, stage actress… …   Wikipedia

  • Yours (Quiéreme Mucho) — Yours is a popular song. The music was written by Gonzalo Roig with the lyrics by Albert Gamse and Jack Sherr. The song was published in 1931. The song is based on a Spanish language song, Quiéreme Mucho , and the original Spanish lyrics were… …   Wikipedia

  • Accordion music genres — Main article: Accordion The accordion has traditionally been used to perform folk or ethnic music, popular music, and transcriptions from the operatic and light classical music repertoire.[1] Today the instrument is sometimes heard in… …   Wikipedia

  • Fresno High School — Infobox School name = Fresno High School imagesize = logo = caption = location = 1839 N. Echo Ave. Fresno, California 93704 district = Fresno Unified School District country = USA coordinates = principal = Bob Reyes faculty = 124.4 (on FTE… …   Wikipedia

  • Liste der Top-30-Schellackplatten von Benny Goodman — Hinweise zur Nutzung der Liste Diese Liste enthält Titel und Komponist(en) der Stücke, Aufnahmedatum, Datum des Eintritts in die Charts, höchste Position und Verweildauer in den Charts. Die Voreinstellung erfolgt nach dem Eintrittsdatum in die… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • James Ellroy — Infobox Writer imagesize = 150px name = James Ellroy caption = birthdate = birth date and age|1948|3|4|mf=y birthplace = Los Angeles, California occupation = Novelist nationality = United StatesJames Ellroy (born Lee Earle Ellroy on March 4, 1948 …   Wikipedia

  • List of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes — This page is a list of episodes for the American TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000. In total, 198 episodes were broadcast from 1988 to 1999. Contents 1 Season index 2 Explanation of entries 3 KTMA TV …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”