Jack Buchanan

He suffered from spinal arthritis (though this didn't stop him from performing several dance numbers with Astaire in Band Wagon), and died in London only four years later. He was killed in a car accident, his pink Thunderbird crashing against a truck at the first light of dawn. He made his film debut in the silent cinema, in 1917, but his best-known film is undoubtedly his venture into Hollywood, The Band Wagon (1953), in which he plays camp theatre director, Jeffrey Cordova, opposite Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. Buscaglione died unexpectedly at 40. Buchanan made his first appearance on the UK stage in 1912, and on Broadway in 1924. He appeared on advertising campaigns, on television, in movies, where he always played his amiable braggart role. Buchanan was born in Helensburgh, Scotland. By the end of 1950s, Buscaglione was one of Italy's most demanded entertainers, not just singers.

Jack Buchanan (April 2, 1891 - October 20, 1957) was a British actor and singer. They wrote together the hits that brought nation-wide fame to Buscaglione: Che bambola, Teresa non sparare, Eri piccola cosė, Guarda che luna, Love in Portofino, Porfirio Villarosa, Whisky facile. His friend Leo Chiosso, a lyricist who formed a very good songwriting duo with Buscaglione, provided him with humorous stories about gangsters and their babes, New York and Chicago, tough men who were ruthless with enemies but easily fell victims to a woman's charms. In the meantime he was gradually creating his public character, inspired by Clark Gable and Mickey Spillane's gangsters. He then formed his own group, the Asternovas.

After the war, Buscaglione returned to Turin and resumed working as a musician for various bands. Most foreign music had been officially forbidden by the Italian Fascist regime. Some military understood his musical talent, and had him joint the orchestra of the allied radio station of Cagliari. This enabled Buscaglione to continue to make music in those war years, and to experiment with new sounds and rhythms coming from the US. During World War II, he ended up in a US internment camp in Sardinia.

During his teen years, he performed in his hometown's night clubs as jazz singer or playing double bass and violin. When he was 11, his parents enrolled him at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Turin. His great passion for music showed up at a very young age. His public persona - the character he played both in his songs and his movies - was a humorous mobster with a penchant for whisky and women.

Ferdinando "Fred" Buscaglione (Turin, 23 November 1921 - Rome, 3 February 1960) was an Italian singer and actor who became very popular in late 1950s.