Tony Fontane

Tony Fontane (1925–1974) was a popular American recording artist in the 1940s and 1950s who gave up his career in popular music to become a gospel singer following a near-fatal car accident in 1957. Due to his high, clear tenor voice and unrelenting sense of purpose, he became one of the world's most famous gospel singers, performing in concert halls and churches around the globe and recording many albums for RCA.

Fontane was born as Anthony Trankina on September 18, 1925 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the son of Joseph and Raphaella Trankina. His father, a railroad worker for the Michigan Central Railroad, converted to Christianity in 1929 and a few years later moved the family to Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he operated a mission. The family lived in poverty, and Tony Trankina grew up despising the mission and its work. It was during this time that he developed a strong hatred for all religions that later developed into full-fledged atheism.

From an early age, he showed an interest in singing. He became accomplished enough that he frequently sang in church services at the mission and, while still in high school, won the Dakota State Achievement award in a vocal contest. He was offered a musical scholarship at Michigan State University, but Tony—exhibiting the youthful urge to escape his surroundings—ran off with a dance band wearing a mascara mustache to disguise his age. Six weeks after a statewide alarm was issued, he was returned home.

He moved to Chicago to live with his aunt, and tried unsuccessfully to break into show business while still in high school. During World War II, he lied about his age to join the Coast Guard. After the war, he assumed the stage name of Tony Fontane and moved to New York City, looking for work as a singer, but did not have much success. He finally landed a spot on the Major Bowes Original Amateur Hour, which he won. Fontane became an instant sensation and was one of only two performers on the Amateur Hour to ever be called back for an encore – the first being Frank Sinatra.

...
Wikipedia