singing-star-tony-bennett-dies

Tony Bennett, singing star with an enduring second act, dies at 96.

The timeless singer had his first hit in 1951 and topped the charts again more than 60 years later

Shaped by an Army experience
Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born Aug. 3, 1926, in Queens. His Italian-born father was a grocer who died when his son was 10. His mother worked as a seamstress while raising three children.

Mr. Bennett sang at family gatherings and listened closely to Sinatra and Bing Crosby in his teens before serving in the Army infantry during World War II. He was 18 when he fought in the Battle of the Bulge and helped liberate a concentration camp at Landsberg, Germany.

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He occasionally sang with musical combos, but he had another experience in the Army that shaped his life. In Germany, Mr. Bennett ran into a Black friend from New York and joined him for Thanksgiving dinner. Mr. Bennett’s commanding officer reprimanded him for associating with African Americans and transferred him to a different unit.

For the rest of his life, Mr. Bennett was a quiet political activist and advocate for civil rights. He campaigned for John F. Kennedy in 1960 and joined Martin Luther King Jr. on the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.