Mario Gino Merlino (April 5, 1928 – January 8, 2024) was an American singer and musician known professionally as Gene Merlino, and most recognized for providing the singing voice of Lancelot in the musical film ''
Camelot
Camelot is a legendary castle and Royal court, court associated with King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described ...
'', for being part of the
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
winning quartet,
The Anita Kerr Singers, and for being a prolific singer of
song poems.
Early life
Gene Merlino was born Mario Gino Merlino on April 5, 1928, in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, to Cesare and Teresa (née Incaviglia) Merlino. His first exposure to music came from his two older brothers; John was an accomplished accordionist, and Victor took up the clarinet but did not stick with it for long. Gene originally wanted to play trumpet, as he admired
Harry James
Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...
, but instead picked up the available clarinet in his early teens. A few years later he had learned the saxophone well enough to start playing for dances and weddings near his
Potrero Hill
Potrero Hill is a residential neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is known for being one of the sunniest neighborhoods in the city and having view of the skyline, Sutro Tower, Twin Peaks, and the bay. A working-class neighborhood unt ...
neighborhood.
After graduating from
Mission High School he enrolled in
San Francisco State as a Music major, playing clarinet and achieving first chair concertmaster in the college's
symphonic band by his sophomore year. He also spent one semester at
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...
.
Career
Radio
In 1950, Merlino left college before graduating when he got his first steady musical job with the Bill Weaver show on
KCBS radio, which at that time broadcast out of the
Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
Although he initially only played saxophone, he soon became the regular male vocalist, performing five nights a week. At this time he "realized that singing was going to be
ismain career in music".
He stayed with KCBS for three years before moving to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, California.
Jazz Bands
After arriving in Los Angeles, Merlino joined the jazz bands of
Frankie Carle
Frankie Carle (born Francis Nunzio Carlone, March 25, 1903 – March 7, 2001) was an American pianist and bandleader. As a very popular bandleader in the 1940s and 1950s, Carle was nicknamed "The Wizard of the Keyboard" for his piano skills. " Su ...
, then
Ray Anthony
Ray Anthony (born Raymond Antonini; January 20, 1922) is an American retired bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter and actor. He is the last living member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
Biography
Anthony was born to an Italian family in Bentleyv ...
. Anthony then started his short-lived television variety show, The Ray Anthony Show, in 1956, allowing Merlino to be seen by a nationwide audience.
When the Anthony show was canceled in May 1957 after only one season, Merlino joined the
Freddy Martin
Frederick Alfred Martin (December 9, 1906 – September 30, 1983) was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist.
Early life
Freddy Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Raised largely in an orphanage and by various relatives, ...
band, who played regularly at the famous Cocoanut Grove club in the
Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Merlino remained with this band until 1963.
Television
Beginning in 1963 and continuing through 1979, Merlino was a regular performer for many television variety shows, starting with ''The
Red Skelton Show
''The Red Skelton Show'' is an American television comedy/variety show that aired from 1951 to 1971. In the decade prior to hosting the show, Richard "Red" Skelton had a successful career as a radio and motion pictures star. Although his telev ...
''. He would eventually become a regular for ''
The Pearl Bailey Show'', ''
The Judy Garland Show
''The Judy Garland Show'' is an American musical variety television series that aired on CBS on Sunday nights during the 1963–1964 television season. Despite a sometimes stormy relationship with Judy Garland, CBS had found success with seve ...
'', the ''
Carol Burnett Show'', ''
The Julie Andrews Hour
''The Julie Andrews Hour'' is a television variety series starring Julie Andrews that was produced by ATV and distributed by ITC Entertainment. It aired on the ABC television network in the United States. It was known as ''The Julie Andrews Sho ...
'', the ''
Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour'', ''
Donny & Marie'', and the
Ken Berry
Kenneth Ronald Berry (November 3, 1933 – December 1, 2018) was an American actor, comedian, dancer, and singer. Berry starred on the television series '' F Troop'' (1965–1967), '' Mayberry R.F.D.'' (1968–1971) and ''Mama's Family'' ( ...
''Wow'' Show.
In later years, his vocals could be heard on ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
''. He performed the song "
Born Free
''Born Free'' is a 1966 British drama film starring the real-life couple Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, another real-life couple, who raised Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lion cub, to adulthood and released h ...
" on the episode "
Whacking Day", "
South of the Border" on "
Kamp Krusty
"Kamp Krusty" is the fourth season premiere of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the 60th episode overall. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 24, 1992. In the episode, the children of Sprin ...
", and "Jellyfish" in "
A Star Is Born Again
"A Star Is Born Again" is the thirteenth episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 2, 2003. The episode was written by Brian Ke ...
".
Studio Recordings and Film
In 1956 he provided the singing voice for the character of Tom Robinson Lee, played by
John Kerr, in the movie
Tea and Sympathy.
In 1964 he was part of the four-man singing group that recorded the theme song for
Gilligan's Island
''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...
.
In 1966, Merlino joined the male singing quartet,
The Mellomen
The Mellomen were a popular singing quartet active from the late 1940s through the mid-1970s. The group was founded by Thurl Ravenscroft and Max Smith in 1948. They recorded under a variety of names, including Big John and the Buzzards, the Crack ...
, with
Thurl Ravenscroft
Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft (; February 6, 1914May 22, 2005) was an American actor and bass singer. He was well known as one of the booming voices behind Kellogg's Frosted Flakes animated spokesman Tony the Tiger for more than five decades. He was ...
,
Bill Lee and Bill Cole, after Max Smith retired. Merlino and the Mellomen appeared in the
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
movie,
The Trouble With Girls. Thanks to this, Merlino began to get regular work as a
session singer
A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a record ...
in the various recording studios in Hollywood and Los Angeles, eventually singing for thousands of movies, television programs, radio and television commercials, audio recordings, and
song poems, during a career that lasted more than 50 years.
His most famous recordings were as part of the Anita Kerr Singers, who won a 1967 Grammy Award (Best Performance by a Vocal Group) for their performance of "A Man and a Woman" (along with a 1969
Edison Award
The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed by ...
), and for providing the singing voice for the character of
Lancelot
Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), alternatively written as Launcelot and other variants, is a popular character in the Matter of Britain, Arthurian legend's chivalric romance tradition. He is typically depicted as King Arthu ...
, played by
Franco Nero
Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film '' Django'' (1966), which made him a pop cul ...
, in the 1967 movie "Camelot".
In 1973 he was part of the chorus who went on a worldwide tour with
Burt Bacharach
Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...
to promote the movie
Lost Horizon
''Lost Horizon'' is a 1933 novel by the English writer James Hilton. The book was turned into a film, also called '' Lost Horizon'', in 1937 by the director Frank Capra and a musical remake in 1973 by the producer Ross Hunter with music by Bu ...
, for which Bacharach wrote the music.
Additionally, Merlino was part of the "L.A. Voices", who were nominated for a Grammy Award (Best Jazz Vocal Performance - Duo or Group) in 1983 for the
Supersax
Supersax was an American jazz group, created in 1972 by saxophonist Med Flory and bassist Buddy Clark as a tribute to saxophonist Charlie Parker. The group's music consisted of harmonized arrangements of Parker's improvisations played by a saxo ...
album "Supersax & L.A. Voices".
He also claimed to have recorded more than 10,000 song poems, primarily under the pseudonyms Gene Marshall or John Muir, and was featured in the 2003
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
documentary "Off the Charts".
Personal life
Merlino married Lois Elizabeth Draper on November 18, 1953. Merlino met Draper in the symphonic band at San Francisco State, where she played flute.
Almost immediately after marrying they moved to the
North Hollywood
North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...
region of Los Angeles, so Gene could foster his singing career, as there was much more studio recording work available in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
and Los Angeles than in San Francisco. They had two children, Monica and John (who was the drummer for
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
themed rock band
Warp 11
Warp 11 was an independent rock band from Sacramento, California, that performed original songs with lyrics entirely about ''Star Trek''. Warp 11's music covered a wide range of styles including alternative, classic rock, punk, country and bl ...
).
They lived in various parts of Los Angeles until 1995, when they moved to
Camarillo
Camarillo ( ) is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 70,741, an increase of 5,540 from the 65,201 counted in the 2010 Census. Camarillo is named for brothers Juan and ...
, California. Their marriage lasted for 55 years until Lois died on April 3, 2009, at the age of 78.
Gene Merlino died in his home in Camarillo of natural causes on January 8, 2024, at the age of 95.
References
External links
*
"This Could Be The Night" from The Ray Anthony Showo
youtube"C'est Moi" from Cameloto
youtube"If Ever I Would Leave You" from Cameloto
youtubeSong Poem "I am a Ginseng Digger"o
youtube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merlino, Gene
1928 births
2024 deaths
Musicians from California
San Francisco State University alumni
Eastman School of Music alumni