Career
In high school, to earn money, Vale took a job shining shoes in a barbershop in New York City. He sang while he shined shoes, and his boss liked the sound so well that he paid for music lessons for the boy. Enjoying the lessons, Vale started singing in high school musicals and at a local nightclub. This led to additional club dates, including one that lasted for three years at a club in the suburb of Yonkers, New York, just north of the city. When Paul Insetta, (who was a road manager for Guy Mitchell and a hit songwriter) heard him there, he signed him to a management contract, changed his name, and further coached him. He then arranged for Vale to record some demonstration records of songs he'd written, and brought the demos to Columbia Records. Vale then signed a recording contract with Columbia, and Insetta managed him for many years.
His version of "The Star-Spangled Banner", recorded in the late 1960s, was a fixture at many sporting events for years.
Vale and Rita, his wife of over 40 years, reside in Palm Desert, California. His autobiography, A Singer's Life, was published in 2000 by Celebrity Profiles, Long Island, New York. He sang the Late Night with David Letterman anthem "It's a Late Night Word" on the program's eighth anniversary special in 1990. He made cameo appearances as himself in the 1990 film Goodfellas and the 1995 film Casino, both directed by Martin Scorsese.
In 1998, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.
Read more about this topic: Jerry Vale
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“Work-family conflicts—the trade-offs of your money or your life, your job or your child—would not be forced upon women with such sanguine disregard if men experienced the same career stalls caused by the-buck-stops-here responsibility for children.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (20th century)
“I seemed intent on making it as difficult for myself as possible to pursue my “male” career goal. I not only procrastinated endlessly, submitting my medical school application at the very last minute, but continued to crave a conventional female role even as I moved ahead with my “male” pursuits.”
—Margaret S. Mahler (1897–1985)
“In time your relatives will come to accept the idea that a career is as important to you as your family. Of course, in time the polar ice cap will melt.”
—Barbara Dale (b. 1940)