Frankie Avalon biography

Synopsis

Profile

Born Francis Thomas Avallone on September 18, 1939, in South Philadelphia. He broke into show business as a child prodigy trumpet player, earning an appearance on the Jackie Gleason Show and making records for RCA Victor's subsidiary, 'X' Records. In his teens, Avalon played backup trumpet in a local band called Rocco and the Saints. It was there that local impresario Bob Marcucci discovered Avalon.

Eight months later, Avalon's first single, "Cupid," came out on Marcucci's Chancellor label, and his third release, "Dede Dinah," hit the Top Ten. He had his first number one single in 1959, "Venus," and placed no fewer than six more records in the Top 40 in that year alone. Marcucci nudged Avalon away from rock, following the successful run he was having with easy listening fare.

Avalon was the first of the manufactured teen idols, before Fabian and Bobby Rydell and the myriads of other pretenders hoping to follow in Elvis's blue suede shoes. But Avalon had an authentic music background to go with the pretty boy looks, and it was that talent that allowed him to succeed where others would fail.

By 1962, Avalon's four-year domination of the music charts was coming to an end, but his career wasn't. He teamed up with Annette Funicello and reinvented himself as a clean-cut, pretty-boy surfer in a wildly successful batch of Beach Party movies. As a symbol of his era, Avalon appeared in the 1950s-themed musical Grease in 1978, singing "Beauty School Drop-out."

The still-youthful-looking Avalon was reteamed with Funicello in 1987's Back to the Beach, a light-hearted throwback that included Dick Dale, "The King of Surf Guitar." Avalon and Funicello continued to perform together at "nostalgia" shows around the country until Funicello retired from show business.

Most recently, Avalon has created a line of health and beauty care line called Frankie Avalon Products. He frequently markets his products on the Home Shopping Network. In April of 2009, Avalon appeared as a guest on the hit television show, American Idol, singing the song "Venus."

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