Quotes
 [in a 1987 interview] When people nowadays say that [Elvis Presley] was the first white guy to sound black, I have to shake my head; what can you do? At the time of "That`s My Desire", they were saying that I was the only white guy around who sounded black. In my leaner days I failed many an audition because, I was told, I sounded "too black" . . . I`m certain the confusion was the direct result of the music that influenced me while I was developing my style. I guess I became the first of the so-called blue-eyed soul singers.
(imdb.com)
[(from an interview for the book "Off the Record: An Oral History of Popular Music"] . . . if I had it to do over again, there is one thing I would change. I would make it [success] happen maybe ten years sooner. Ten years is a good stretch of scuffling. But I scuffled for 17 years before it happened and 17 is a bit much.
(imdb.com)
Trivia
His musical influences included Bing Crosby, Al Jolson, Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday.
(imdb.com)
Brother of Phil Lo Vecchio.
(imdb.com)
Released an album of country music, "Nashville Connection", his last, all songs written by John Moffat, in 2004.
(imdb.com)
When performing his signature hit "Mule Train" at the 1950 Academy Awards, he caused the unintentional comic highlight of the evening when his whip wouldn't crack properly. After a series of false starts ("Oops, that's no good. Can we try it again?") that got him, the audience, and music director Alfred Newman laughing uproariously, he was finally able to sing the song through to completion, earning a thunderous standing ovation at the end.
(imdb.com)
Son of Sicilian immigrants.
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He had 2 stepchildren from Nan Grey's first marriage.
(imdb.com)
Earned more than 20 gold records, and sold over 100 million records.
(imdb.com)
Tex Ritter sang the title song from High Noon (1952) but Frankie Laine's recording of it topped the charts.
(imdb.com)
Stepfather of Jan Steiger and Pam Donner.
(imdb.com)
His big breakthrough came when Hoagy Carmichael heard him sing in a Los Angeles nightclub.
(imdb.com)
Earned a living as a marathon dancer before his big break.
(imdb.com)
When Mel Brooks advertised in the show business trade papers for a "Frankie Laine-type" voice to sing the title song for Blazing Saddles (1974), he expected a good imitation of the real Laine. Instead, Frankie Laine himself showed at Brooks' office two days later, ready to do the job. He got the job and sang the Oscar-nominated title song again at the Academy Awards the following year.
(imdb.com)
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