Opera Singer. Born in Naples, Italy, in his young days his singing was in demand, either at the local church or some special festivities. His parents are from Piedimonte d'Alife (Province of Caserta) and moved to Naples for his father's work. His mother was pregnant with him whey moved. When he was 15, his mother was seriously ill. She insisted he must sing. Upon his return after Mass, he found her dead. His father remarried, and the family ultimately consisted of 22 children. With very little formal or musical education, he learned and refined his theatrical skills throughout his life on his own. Singing first in provincial theaters and later with touring companies, Caruso gradually made his way to opera houses in Milan and London, England, then to the Metropolitan in New York City, New York, debuting in "Rigoletto" on opening night. He continued to open each season for the next 17 years, presenting 36 roles in all. Although many countries and opera houses clamored for his appearances, he made the Metropolitan Opera his home base and, with his fellow countryman Arturo Toscanini, established this company as the greatest opera house in the world. His 607th appearance at the Met was his last public appearance. His personal life was operatic, only, in this case, a soap opera. He had brushes with Italian gangsters in New York City who attempted to extort money from him. While visiting the Central Park Zoo, a mysterious woman accused him of molesting her in the monkey house. Although married, he pursued a relationship with an Italian soprano star which produced two sons. He finally met his match in Dorothy Park Benjamin, a woman 20 years his junior whom he married in the Dutch Reformed Church (Marble Church) in New York City. Although the marriage lasted only two years because of his death, a daughter was born to them, and Dorothy was by his side during his illness and ultimate death. Caruso was worn out by exhaustion and lung ailments. After a year of illness, operations, and convalescing, the family returned to Naples taking a suite at the Hotel Vittoria in Naples where he painfully died at age 48. These rooms are today as he left them and are called the Caruso Suite. The King of Italy gave orders for the Basilica di San Francesco di Paola (St. Francis of Paola), normally reserved for royal occasions, to be the site of Enrico Caruso's High Requiem Mass. His crystal casket was taken to Del Planto Cemetery and placed in a temporary chapel with continued viewing that lasted for eight years until his widow put a stop to the spectacle and sealed the vault. His body was re-dressed each year with a new suit. The famous Ajello Candle makers created a memorial candle for the opera singer towering over 18 feet tall, weighing one ton, 8 feet in circumference, and made to last for 1800 years burning one day each year on the anniversary of Enrico's birth. The legacy of Caruso survives in his RCA Victor recordings which have been remastered to a compact disk format with classical and the popular songs. Before Caruso, the gramophone was a novelty, his recordings created an industry where sound could be kept and listened to anytime. Caruso was an able caricaturist and displayed some talent as a sculptor. He delighted in sketching caricatures of himself and his acquaintances. His most memorable were those made during the San Francisco Earthquake. He drew a series of sketches depicting his experiences, which were published in the San Francisco Chronicle. His life was the subject of a highly-fictionalized Hollywood motion picture, "The Great Caruso," made in 1951, starring Mario Lanza. The Enrico Caruso Museum of America is located in Brooklyn, New York. It features many personal items, including his death mask, and boasts a 20-seat theatre furnished with chairs and items from the old Metropolitan Opera House before it was demolished.