Father of actor and legendary singer Mario Lanza. Born in Filignano, in the Abruzzi Region of Italy, his parents were farmers in an arid land that made farming difficult. When he was 12, Antonio emigrated to the United States, settling down in the “little Italy” section of Philadelphia. He pursued no additional formal education, but worked a lathe in a railroad engine manufacturing shop. Tiring of this, he became a carpenter in the RCA Victor Talking Machine Company, putting together cabinets for the new talking machines. Music was an early part of his life, and he learned to play the French Horn, and later, liked to sing opera, although his voice was never considered very good. In 1918, during World War I, Tony was drafted into the US Army, and served as a private in the 145th Infantry Regiment of the 37th Infantry Division. During the Battle of the Meuse Argonne, France, he was gassed with mustard gas, captured a German soldier, was stabbed in the back with a German bayonet, and wounded in the right arm, the last wound of which crippled him permanently and got him a 60 percent disability pension, as well as a Purple Heart. Returning home at the end of the war, he would wear his uniform around the streets, and in 1920, he wandered into Salvatore Lanza’s Italian-American Import Shop, to purchase some salami. There he met Salvatore’s oldest daughter, Maria, then 15 years old. It was love at first sight, and within a year, the two were married, and Tony moved in with his in-laws. A year later, their first child and only son, Tony Jr (the future Mario Lanza), was born. Tony proved to have no interest in business, preferring to live off his disability pension, and after a few years, Salvatore purchased a candy store for Tony and Maria. When son, Mario, became famous, Mario purchased a home for his parents in Los Angeles, California, so that they could be near him. They settled in a new home at 622 Toyopa Drive in Pacific Palisades, California, which Mario paid for. After their death, the family home was occupied by children, Damon and Marc. In 1959, when his only son died, Tony received the news about 6:00 am in a telephone call from Rome. Unbelieving, he turned on the radio, and Mario’s voice came on, singing “Be My Love.” With the song’s end, the DJ informed the public that Mario had died just hours before in Rome. In the next three weeks, viewings were held in Rome, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, each time more than 20,000 persons came by to pay their respects, and Tony stayed with his dead son all the way. Following Mario’s death, his wife, Betty, took the four children back to Los Angeles, California, and five months after Mario’s death, she committed suicide at the age of 36. The four children, the oldest 11 and the youngest 5, were taken to their paternal grandparents, where they were raised. Maria and Tony were given custody after a short legal battle with Betty’s parents. When Mario and Betty’s estate was settled, Mario’s parents received a total of only $858,600 out of the millions that were originally in the estate, including the royalties from Mario’s records, but it was enough to make them comfortable for the rest of their lives (lawyers got most of the estate). His wife Maria died on July 6, 1970, of a stroke, at the age of 65. A month later, family friend Terry Robinson was appointed guardian for Ellisa, Damon, and Marc (daughter Colleen was married at this point), while Tony retreated into his private world of his vegetable garden and his dog, dying on May 12, 1975, at the age of 81.