Editing Tony Bennett (section)

== Early life ==
=== 1926–1943: Family and education ===
Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born on August 3, 1926,<ref name=bio.com>{{cite web |url= http://www.biography.com/people/tony-bennett-9926699 |publisher= Biography.com |title= Tony Bennett Biography |access-date= March 12, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180315041800/https://www.biography.com/people/tony-bennett-9926699 |archive-date= March 15, 2018 |df= mdy-all}}</ref> at St. John's Hospital in [[Long Island City, Queens]], in New York City.<ref>Bennett, ''The Good Life'', p. 15.</ref> His parents were grocer John Benedetto and seamstress Anna (Suraci) Benedetto, and he was the first member of his family to be born in a hospital.<ref name="evanier-22">Evanier, ''All the Things You Are'', pp. 19–23.</ref> In 1906, John had emigrated from [[Podargoni]],<ref name="evanier-29">Evanier, ''All the Things You Are'', p. 29. "Tony Bennett's paternal grandfather, Giovanni Benedetto, grew up in the village of Podargoni, above Reggio Calabria. The family were poor farmers, producing figs, olive oil, and wine grapes. His mother's family, the Suracis, also farmed in Calabria. Neither side of the family could read or write."</ref> a rural eastern district of the [[Mezzogiorno|southern Italian]] city of [[Reggio Calabria]]. Anna had been born in the U.S. shortly after her parents also emigrated from the [[Calabria]] region in 1899.<ref name="evanier-22"/><ref name="evanier-29"/> Other relatives came over as well as part of the [[Italian American#The great Italian diaspora (1880–1914)|mass migration of Italians to America]].<ref name="evanier-22"/><ref name="evanier-29" /> Tony grew up with an older sister, Mary, and an older brother, John Jr.<ref>Bennett, ''The Good Life'', pp. 11, 27.</ref> With a father who was ailing and unable to work, the children grew up in poverty.<ref name="sullivan">{{cite news | url=https://www.today.com/popculture/tony-bennett-musician-artist-wbna20939793 | title=Tony Bennett: The musician and the artist | first=Robert | last=Sullivan | publisher=[[Today.com]] | date=September 24, 2007 | access-date=May 13, 2008 | df=mdy-all | archive-date=February 15, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215183231/https://www.today.com/popculture/tony-bennett-musician-artist-wbna20939793 | url-status=live }}</ref> John Sr. instilled in his son a love of art and literature, and a compassion for human suffering,<ref>Evanier, ''All the Things You Are'', pp. 24–25.</ref> but died when Tony was ten years old.<ref name="sullivan"/>

Bennett grew up listening to [[Al Jolson]], [[Eddie Cantor]], [[Judy Garland]], and [[Bing Crosby]] as well as [[jazz]] artists such as [[Louis Armstrong]], [[Jack Teagarden]], and [[Joe Venuti]]. His uncle Dick was a [[tap dance]]r in [[vaudeville]], giving him an early window into show business,<ref name="npr-jazz"/> and his uncle Frank was the [[Queens]] borough library commissioner.<ref name="evanier-27"/> By age 10 he was already singing, and performed at the opening of the [[Triborough Bridge]],<ref name="amg-bio">{{cite web | url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/tony-bennett-p6095/biography | title=Tony Bennett: Biography | first=William |last=Ruhlmann | website=[[AllMusic]] | access-date=June 11, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930011534/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/tony-bennett-p6095/biography |archive-date=September 30, 2011}}</ref> standing next to [[Mayor of New York City|Mayor]] [[Fiorello La Guardia]] who patted him on the head.<ref name="evanier-27">Evanier, ''All the Things You Are'', p. 27.</ref> Drawing was another early passion of his;<ref name="sullivan"/> he became known as the class [[caricaturist]] at P.S. 141 and anticipated a career in [[commercial art]].<ref name="evanier-34">Evanier, ''All the Things You Are'', pp. 33–34.</ref> He began singing for money at age 13, performing as a singing waiter in several [[Italian cuisine|Italian]] restaurants around his native Queens.<ref name="evanier-34"/><ref name="abc092707">{{cite news | url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Playlist/story?id=3659051 | title=Nightline Playlist: Tony Bennett | first=Deborah |last=Apton | publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] | date=September 27, 2007 | access-date=May 13, 2008 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614223826/http://www.abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Playlist/story?id=3659051 | archive-date=June 14, 2008 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Bennett attended New York's [[High School of Art and Design|School of Industrial Art]] where he studied painting and music<ref name="ghk0495"/> and would later appreciate their emphasis on proper technique.<ref>Evanier, ''All the Things You Are'', pp. 35–36.</ref> But he dropped out at age 16 to help support his family.<ref name="aarp"/> He worked as a copy boy and runner for the [[Associated Press]] in [[Manhattan]]<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2005/08/08/in_depth_showbiz/photoessay765550_0_15_photo.shtml | title=Celebrity Circuit: The Graduate | publisher=[[CBS News]] | date=August 8, 2005 | access-date=February 15, 2009}}</ref> and in several other low-skilled, low-paying jobs.<ref name="evanier-40">Evanier, ''All the Things You Are'', pp. 39–40.</ref> He mostly set his sights on a professional singing career, returning to performing as a singing waiter, playing and winning amateur nights all around the city, and enjoying a successful engagement at a [[Paramus, New Jersey]], nightclub.<ref name="abc092707"/><ref name="evanier-40"/>

=== 1944–1950: World War II and after ===
Benedetto was drafted into the [[United States Army]] in November 1944, during the final stages of [[World War II]].<ref name="sullivan"/><ref>Bennett, ''The Good Life'', p. 51.</ref> He did [[United States Army Basic Training|basic training]] at [[Fort Dix]] and [[Fort Robinson]] as part of becoming an [[Rifleman|infantry rifleman]].<ref name="gl-52">Bennett, ''The Good Life'', pp. 52–53.</ref> Benedetto ran afoul of a sergeant from [[Southern United States|the South]] who disliked the Italian from New York City; heavy doses of [[KP duty]] or [[M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle|BAR]] cleaning resulted.<ref name="gl-52"/> Processed through the huge [[Le Havre#History|Le Havre replacement depot]], in January 1945, he was assigned as a replacement infantryman to the 255th Infantry Regiment of the [[63rd Infantry Division (United States)|63rd Infantry Division]], a unit filling in for the heavy losses suffered in the [[Battle of the Bulge]].<ref name="gl-55">Bennett, ''The Good Life'', pp. 54–56.</ref> He moved across [[Provisional Government of the French Republic|France]] and later into [[Nazi Germany|Germany]].<ref name="sullivan"/> As March 1945 began, he joined the [[front line]] of what he would later describe as a "front-row seat in hell".<ref name="gl-55"/>

As the [[Wehrmacht|German Army]] was pushed back to its homeland, Benedetto and his [[Dog company|company]] saw bitter fighting in cold winter conditions, often hunkering down in [[Defensive fighting position|foxholes]] as German [[88 mm gun]]s fired on them.<ref name="gl-57">Bennett, ''The Good Life'', pp. 57–59.</ref> At the end of March, they crossed the [[Rhine]] and entered Germany, engaging in dangerous house-to-house, town-after-town fighting to clean out German soldiers;<ref name="gl-57"/> during the first week of April, they crossed the [[Kocher River]], and by the end of the month reached the [[Danube]].<ref name="gl-60">Bennett, ''The Good Life'', pp. 60–61.</ref> During his time in combat, Benedetto narrowly escaped death several times.<ref name="sullivan"/> The experience made him a [[pacifist]];<ref name="sullivan"/> he would later write, "Anybody who thinks that war is romantic obviously hasn't gone through one",<ref name="gl-55"/> and later say, "It was a nightmare that's permanent. I just said, 'This is not life. This is not life.{{'"}}<ref name="abc-attacks"/> At the war's conclusion he was involved in the liberation of the [[Kaufering concentration camp]], a subcamp of [[Dachau]], near [[Landsberg (district)|Landsberg]], where some American prisoners of war from the 63rd Division had also been held.<ref name="gl-60"/> He later wrote in his autobiography that "I saw things no human being should ever have to see."<ref name="Time">{{cite magazine |last1=Chow |first1=Andrew |title=Tony Bennett Was a Master at Bridging Generational Divides |url=https://time.com/5885953/tony-bennett-dead/ |access-date=July 21, 2023 |magazine=Time |date=July 21, 2023 |archive-date=July 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230721234442/https://time.com/5885953/tony-bennett-dead/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Benedetto stayed in [[Allied-occupied Germany|Germany]] as part of the [[American-occupied zone of Germany|occupying force]] but was assigned to an informal Special Services band unit that would entertain nearby American forces.<ref name="sullivan"/> His dining with a black friend from high school—at a time when [[Military history of African Americans|the Army was still racially segregated]]—led to his being demoted and reassigned to [[Graves Registration Service]] duties.<ref name="tavis-int">{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200609/20060929_bennett.html | title=Tony Bennett | work=[[Tavis Smiley]] | publisher=[[PBS]] | date=September 29, 2006 | access-date=January 6, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228094530/http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200609/20060929_bennett.html <!--Added by H3llBot--> | archive-date=December 28, 2007}}</ref> Subsequently, he sang with the [[United States military bands|314th Army Special Services Band]] under the stage name Joe Bari<ref name="gl-74"/> (a name he had started using before the war, chosen after [[Bari|the city]] and [[Province of Bari|province]] in Italy, and as a partial [[anagram]] of his family origins in Calabria).<ref>Bennett, ''The Good Life'', p. 48.</ref> He played with many musicians who would have post-war careers.<ref name="gl-74">Bennett, ''The Good Life'', pp. 71, 74, 77.</ref>

Upon his discharge from the Army and return to the States in 1946, Benedetto studied at the [[American Theatre Wing]] on the [[GI Bill]].<ref name="amg-bio"/> He was taught the ''[[bel canto]]'' singing discipline,<ref name="ap090507">{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/09/05/entertainment/e143756D28.DTL |title=Clint Eastwood tells Tony Bennett's story for 'American Masters' |first=Lynn |last=Elber |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=September 5, 2007 |access-date=January 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616163645/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fn%2Fa%2F2007%2F09%2F05%2Fentertainment%2Fe143756D28.DTL |archive-date=June 16, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> which would keep his voice in good shape for his entire career. He continued to perform wherever he could, including while waiting tables.<ref name="sullivan"/> Based upon a suggestion from a teacher at the American Theatre Wing, he developed an unusual approach that involved imitating, as he sang, the style and phrasing of other musicians—such as that of [[Stan Getz]]'s saxophone and [[Art Tatum]]'s piano—helping him to improvise as he interpreted a song.<ref name="aarp">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.aarpmagazine.org/entertainment/Articles/a2003-06-18-bennett.html | title=Tony Bennett | first=John |last=Lewis | magazine=[[AARP The Magazine]] |date=July–August 2003 | access-date=October 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212034140/http://www.aarpmagazine.org/entertainment/Articles/a2003-06-18-bennett.html |archive-date=February 12, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b012cr6v/The_One_Show_04_07_2011/ | title=The One Show: 04/07/2011 | work=[[The One Show]] | publisher=BBC | date=July 4, 2011 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709075827/http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b012cr6v/The_One_Show_04_07_2011 | archive-date=July 9, 2011 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> He made a few recordings as Bari in 1949 for a small outfit called Leslie Records, but they failed to sell.<ref name="cleve">{{cite web | url=http://www.cleveland.oh.us/wmv_news/jazz66.htm | title=Tony Bennett's Cleveland Connections | first=Joe |last=Mosbrook | work=Jazzed in Cleveland | publisher=WMV Web News Cleveland | date=November 28, 2001 | access-date=June 15, 2005 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050619073800/http://www.cleveland.oh.us/wmv_news/jazz66.htm | archive-date=June 19, 2005 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

In 1949, [[Pearl Bailey]] recognized Benedetto's talent and asked him to open for her in [[Greenwich Village]].<ref name="abc092707"/> She had invited [[Bob Hope]] to the show. Hope decided to take Benedetto on the road with him and shortened his name to Tony Bennett.<ref name="cleve"/> In 1950, Bennett cut a demo of "[[Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Al Dubin song)|Boulevard of Broken Dreams]]" and was signed to the major label [[Columbia Records]] by [[Mitch Miller]].<ref name="amg-bio"/>