Enzo Stuarti

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Enzo Stuarti (born Lorenzo Scapone; March 3, 1919 - December 16, 2005)[1] was an Italian American tenor and musical theater performer. After a performing on Broadway under the stage names Larry Laurence and Larry Stuart, he changed his name again and began a recording career in which he released several successful albums. He made regular stage and television appearances, and was featured in commercials for Ragú spaghetti sauce. Early Life Stuarti was born Lorenzo Scapone in Rome, Italy. His parents fled Italy for the United States when Benito Mussolini came to power, but he was left behind with an aunt who placed him in the Monte Cassino Abbey, where he was raised by monks. He joined his family in Newark, New Jersey in 1934, where he finished school and worked with his father, a baker by trade.[2] In 1940, he joined the Merchant Marines and was assigned aboard the Liberty Ship SS Charles Pratt,[3] a Panamanian based tanker. On December 21, 1940, the ship was torpedoed by a German U-Boat. He survived the attack and after his service in the Merchant Marines, he returned to Italy for voice training in order to pursue his ambition of singing professionally. He studied for a time at the Accademia di Santa Ceccila in Rome.[2] Broadway Career Stuarti's first Broadway show was Hollywood Pinafore[4] followed by Nellie Bly.[5] Then in 1946, he was cast in the role of Passepartout in the Cole Porter/Orson Welles musical Around the World.[6] The production was not considered a succes