Enzo Stuarti was born Lorenzo Scapone in Rome, Italy. His parents fled Italy for the United States when Benito Mussolini came to power, but he was left behind with an aunt who placed him in the Monte Cassino Abbey, where he was raised by monks. He joined his family in Newark, New Jersey in 1934, where he finished school and worked with his father, a baker by trade.
In 1940, he joined the United States Merchant Marine and was assigned aboard the Liberty ship SS Charles Pratt, a Panamanian based tanker. On December 21, 1940, the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat. He survived the attack and after his service in the Merchant Marine, he returned to Italy for voice training in order to pursue his ambition of singing professionally.
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Toward the end of 1954, he took the name “Enzo Stuarti” at the suggestion of Ed Sullivan, who thought he should have a more Italian-sounding name. [Wiki]
With a name like “Lorenzo Scapone,” the first thing that came to my mind is of an Irish balladeer. Eventually he hit the big time, all thanks to Ed Sullivan.
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