Tony Butala
| Tony Butala | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Anthony Francis Butala November 20, 1940 Sharon, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Known for | The Lettermen |
| Children | 4 |
Anthony Francis "Tony" Butala (born November 20, 1940) is an American singer. He has been the lead singer of the vocal group The Lettermen since 1958, and is now the only original member.
Butala was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, of Croatian descent, the eighth of eleven children of Mary Ann (Ference) and John George Butala. He spent much of his early years on a farm owned by his grandparents, enjoying a rural upbringing which included deer hunting. Butala said in a radio interview that hunting in those days was done more out of survival, rather than sport as it is today. He shot his first deer at the age of 12.
Butala began his professional singing career in 1948, when he appeared on "Starlets on Parade", a Saturday morning show on KDKA radio in Pittsburgh. He quickly became a favorite in and around his hometown of Sharon during his pre-teen years.
In 1951, Butala's mother, who was a nurse, was called to California to assist her sister, who had been stricken with pneumonia and needed assistance with her children while she recovered. Butala's father, believing that there could be opportunities for his son on the West Coast, suggested that Tony accompany his mother to California, where he joined the Robert Mitchell Boys Choir and performed with the choir through 1954. His notable works during this period included being the voice actor of Lost Boy Slightly in the hit Disney classic Peter Pan (1953).
Butala's tenure with the boys' choir ended as his voice naturally changed as he entered his teen years. However, Mitchell, retained him as assistant choir director and paid for his private education as he continued his show business career. As a teenager, Butala sang with a quartet called "The Fourmost", which included Concetta Ingolia, who would later be known as Connie Stevens. Though the group would later disband, for Tony, it laid the foundation of what would become known as The Lettermen.
The first unofficial incarnation of The Lettermen came in 1958, with Butala, Mike Barnett, and Talmadge Russell, who would later be replaced by Jerry Paul. That same year, Gary Clark and Jimmy Blaine followed, and that combination made its first recording, but it was not successful. Butala tried again with two new singers, Bob Engemann and Jim Pike. This lineup brought the group its first success, as The Lettermen scored their first Top 40 hit at #13 on the US charts in 1961 with "The Way You Look Tonight". This cover of a 1936 song went gold in the U.S. The Lettermen's pop music chart success ended in 1969, but they continued to record and appear live in concert since then, and continue to enjoy success.
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