5 Frankie Avalon
YouTube Music Videos

Born Francis Thomas Avallone, September 18, 1939 in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, Avalon was the first of the manufactured teen idols, before 
Fabian and Bobby Rydell and the host of others to become popular while 
Elvis, in the Army, did his time in Germany. 

Avalon, unlike the other teen idols of the time, Avalon had a real musical 
background to go with the pretty-boy looks and was playing trumpet and 
singing backup for Andy Martin in a local band. In 1968, impresario Bob 
Marcucci was more impressed with Avalon than with Martin and quickly had 
Avalon sign a management contract. 

It was another six to eight months before Avalon's first single, "Cupid," 
came out on Marcucci's Chancellor label, and it wasn't until his third release, 
"Dede Dinah," that he had his first Top Ten hit. From there, it was an 
unprecedented run of hits, starting with his first number one in 1959, "Venus." 
Six more of his singles hit the Top 40 in that year alone. Marcucci worked 
the formula, easing Avalon away from rockers into more "adult," oriented fare. 

By 1962, Avalon's four-year run of hits was coming to an end, but his career 
wasn't. He was teamed up with Annette Funicello and reinvented himself as a 
clean-cut, pretty-boy surfer in a wildly successful serie of beach party 
movies that got him through the '60s in far better shape than most of his 
colleagues. The series was big enough to bring him and Funicello back for an 
update in the '80s called, Back to the Beach. 

He also had straight dramatic parts in The Alamo (1960) as well as Voyage to 
the Bottom of the Sea (1961) with Barbara Eden. Avalon appeared in nearly 
two-dozen TV episodes, including ABC's The Bing Crosby Show and The Patty 
Duke Show, appearing often as himself. Later, he became national television 
spokesperson for Sonic Drive-In.

The 1980 film The Idolmaker, written by Ed Di Lorenzo and directed by Taylor 
Hackford, was a thinly-disguised biography of Avalon ("Tommy Dee" in the 
film) as well as 1950s teenage star Fabian (called "Caesare" in the film), 
as well as songwriter/producer Marcucci (called "Vinnie Vacarri"). In the 
movie, Dee clashes with the producer and younger singer Caesare, whom he 
feels threatens his career. Eventually, Dee and Caesare quit the label, but 
their record careers collapse as the British Invasion begins. The real 
Fabian threatened a lawsuit, though the filmmakers insisted the film 
presented only fictional characters (though Marcucci was a paid consultant). 
Avalon denied most of the movie's events.

He stared in stage productions of Grease in the role of Teen Angel (a role 
he also played in the 1978 film adaptation) and Tony n' Tina's Wedding as a 
characterized version of himself. Additionally, in 2007, he performed the 
song "Beauty School Dropout" with the four remaining female contenders 
(Kathleen Monteleone, Allie Schulz, Ashley Spencer, and winner Laura Osnes) 
for the role of Sandy on the NBC television reality show Grease: You're the 
One that I Want!

Avalon married Kathryn Diebel on January 19, 1963. She was a former beauty 
pageant winner, and Avalon met her while playing cards at a friend's house. 
Marcucci warned Avalon that marriage would spoil his teen idol mystique. 
Still together, they have eight children: Frankie Jr., Tony, Dina, Laura, 
Joseph, Nicolas, Kathryn and Carla. They have 10 grandchildren. Frankie Jr. 
is a drummer and Tony, the second oldest son, plays guitar and teaches at 
the Paul Green School of Rock; both tour with their father.

Today, Avalon divides his time between touring, hawking pain medicine on 
home shopping networks and appearing on the Golden Boys of Rock'n'Roll 
oldies show with Bobby Rydell and Fabian, looking handsome as ever. 

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 a John Herbert "Jackie" Gleason 1 , (February 26, 1916–June 24, 1987) was 
an American comedian, actor and musician who had his own variety/comedy show 
and was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by 
his character Ralph Kramden on the sitcom The Honeymooners b . His most 
noted film role was Minnesota Fats in The Hustler.

 b The Honeymooners was an influential situation comedy television show that 
was created by Marvin Marx, and shot before a live audience. It debuted as a 
half-hour series on October 1, 1955. Although initially a ratings success—it 
was the #2 show in the United States its first season. It faced stiff 
competition from the popular Perry Como Show in an era when many North 
American homes had no television, and with the prevalent broadcast 
technology, those that did were lucky to receive any stations beyond the 
three major networks. The show eventually dropped to #19, and production 
ended after 39 episodes (now referred to as the "Classic 39"). The final 
episode of The Honeymooners aired on September 22, 1956.