One of the biggest teen idols of the late '50s, Paul Anka was born Paul Mustapha Abdi Anka, OC, on July 30, 1941, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

A child prodigy, he became a successful performer, songwriter, actor music businessman, and recording artist. He bagan performing, as an impressionist, at the age of 12 and by the age of 14, he was stealing the family car to drive to amateur singing contests in nearby Hull, Quebec, and writing his own songs.

In 1957, while on a trip to New York with a group of friends, Anka was able to get an audition with Don Costa, a producer for the ABC record label. At the audition Anka sang his own composition, "Diana," an ode to a former babysitter. Costa liked what he heard, recorded it, and watched as the single hit #1 on both sides of the Atlantic, eventually selling a reported ten million copies worldwide.

By 1961, when the teen idol craze began to cool off, Anka (a millionaire while still a minor) had over 1.....MORE.....(full Paul Anka biography) ←