By Rita Charleston
For the Times
If Tony Orlando had but one wish, it would be a simple one: “To stay as healthy as George Burns and be able to perform for people as long as he did. I wouldn’t mind being one-hundred and still doing what I’m doing today.”
And for the veteran performer, that’s one wish that might easily come true. At 59, Orlando is celebrating his 43rd year in show business, constantly on the road (“I was only home twenty-eight days last year!”) and admitting that he’s loving every minute of it.
“I’d describe myself as an old-fashioned kind of guy with a great respect for the work ethic. I’m a hard-working person trying to remain a good one,” said Orlando, who’s set to take center stage in the Tropicana Showroom in Atlantic City during shows set for Dec. 27, 28 and 31.
Born and raised in the Hell’s Kitchen area of New York City, Orlando found success pursuing a major dream, thanks to that strong ethic coupled with a rare energy and enthusiasm for his work.
Organizing his first band at age 12, Orlando got his first break in the recording industry just three years later when music publisher Don Kirschner hired the 15-year-old performer to sing on demos for singer-songwriter Carole King. A year later, Orlando became the first pop artist signed to Epic Records.
At the age of 16, the rising young star recorded and released his first singles, Halfway to Paradise and Bless You, then boarded a train at Penn Station in New York to make his first professional appearance in Philadelphia on American Bandstand.
“The date was March 21, 1961 — a date I’ll never forget because, without a doubt, that was one of the greatest thrills in my life,” he recalled. “In fact, when I got my star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990, I picked that same date, March 2l, and asked that Dick Clark join me because it all began with him, and I really wanted him there for the occasion.”
But, Orlando admitted, since that time there have been many other high points in his career, and many of us probably remember most of them –– like Orlando joining with two friends who sang background vocals as they recorded their first number together, Candida.
“I think it is really the rule of show business that every big break you get, you back into it without knowing it at the time,’ Orlando said.
“A few weeks after recording Candida, I had forgotten all about it. And then I got a call telling me we had a big hit on our hands. The crazy thing was, the song kept climbing the charts until it hit number one.”
The success of the singing trio, eventually labeled Tony Orlando and Dawn, snowballed with their next hit, Knock Three Times, and the group went on to record five more Top-10 hits, including Tie a Yellow Ribbon ’Round the Ole Oak Tree.
Those successes led to a four-year, prime-time run in a musical variety show on television. And while hit singles and albums, concert tours and television continued, restless Tony Orlando began looking elsewhere for new challenges.
He said he found them on Broadway and in the movies. In 1981, Orlando replaced Jim Dale in his Tony award-winning portrayal of Barnum on the stage.
That same year also saw Orlando receive rave reviews for his starring role in the NBC movie 300 Miles for Stephanie and for his portrayal of Jose Ferrer in the telemovie The Rosemary Clooney Story.
Orlando, of Hispanic and Greek origins, said that although he’s thrilled with the way his long career in show business has gone, he regrets not doing a little more acting.
“And you know what? As I get older, I may just go in and read for some character parts, hoping to convince producers to overlook the ‘Tony Orlando’ persona and see me for who I am,” he said.
“It’s good to be me, but at times, when you want to do other things, you get pigeonholed. That’s the price you pay to get that well-known.”
As for what’s down the road, Tony Orlando will tell you there’s one project he always wanted to do — a stage rendition of Zorba the Greek. He still remembers bringing that up during a conversation some years back with Anthony Quinn, the actor who brought fame to the show — and broadened his own. Quinn died in June 2001 at the age of 86.
“In the back of my mind, one day I’d really love to do Zorba the Greek,” Orlando said. “I spoke to Anthony Quinn one day about the possibility, and he said he thought I’d be great in the role — but not until he left this Earth!” ••
For times and ticket information, call 1-800-736-1420.