logo
Connie Francis, Pretty Little Baby singer and actress, dies aged 87

Connie Francis, Pretty Little Baby singer and actress, dies aged 87

1News6 days ago
Connie Francis, the wholesome pop star of the 1950s and '60s whose hits included Pretty Little Baby and Who's Sorry Now? — the latter would serve as an ironic title for a personal life filled with heartbreak and tragedy — has died at age 87.
Her death was announced Thursday by her friend and publicist, Ron Roberts, who did not immediately provide additional details. Earlier this month, Francis posted that she had been hospitalised with "extreme pain". Francis had gained renewed attention in recent months after Pretty Little Baby became a sensation on TikTok, with Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner among the many celebrities citing it.
"I'm flabbergasted and excited about the huge buzz my 1962 recording of Pretty Little Baby is making all over the world," she said in a video on TikTok, which she had joined in response to the song's unexpected revival. "To think that a song I recorded 63 years ago is captivating new generations of audiences is truly overwhelming for me."
Francis was a top performer of the pre-Beatles era, rarely out of the charts from 1957-64. Able to appeal to both young people and adults, she had more than a dozen Top 20 hits, starting with Who's Sorry Now? and including the No. 1 songs Don't Break the Heart That Loves You and The Heart Has a Mind of Its Own. Like other teen favourites of her time, she also starred in several films, including Where the Boys Are and Follow the Boys.
The dark-haired singer was just 17 when she signed a contract with MGM Records following appearances on several TV variety shows. Her earliest recordings attracted little attention, but then she released her version of Who's Sorry Now? an old ballad by Ted Snyder, Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby.
ADVERTISEMENT
It, too, had little success initially until Dick Clark played it on his American Bandstand show in 1958. Clark featured her repeatedly on American Bandstand, and she said in later years that without his support, she would have abandoned her music career.
Dick Clark, host of American Bandstand, left, appears with Connie Francis during taping of the show in Los Angeles in 1980. (Source: Associated Press)
Francis followed with such teen hits as Stupid Cupid, Everybody's Somebody's Fool and Lipstick on Your Collar. Her records became hits worldwide as she re-recorded versions of her original songs in Italian and Spanish, among other languages. Her concerts around the country quickly sold out.
Meanwhile, a romance bloomed with fellow teen idol Bobby Darin, who had volunteered to write songs for her. But when her father heard rumours that the pair was planning a wedding, he stormed into a rehearsal and pulled a gun on Darin, ending their relationship and seeming to set Francis on a pained and traumatic path.
She chronicled some of it in her autobiography, Who's Sorry Now?
"My personal life is a regret from A to Z," she told The Associated Press in 1984, the year the book came out. "I realised I had allowed my father to exert too much influence over me".
Her father, George Franconero, was a roofing contractor from New Jersey who played the accordion. She was just 3 when her father presented her with a child-size accordion, as soon as she began to show an aptitude for music. When she was 4, he began booking singing dates for her, going on to become her manager.
ADVERTISEMENT
Although her acting career had faded by the mid-1960s, Francis was still popular on the concert circuit when she appeared at the Westbury Music Center in Westbury, New York, in 1974. She had returned to her hotel room and was asleep when a man broke in and raped her at knifepoint. He was never captured.
Francis sued the hotel, alleging its security was faulty, and a jury awarded her $2.5 million (NZ$4.2 million) in 1976. The two sides then settled out of court for US$1,475,000 (NZ$2,486,974) as an appeal was pending. She said the attack destroyed her marriage and put her through years of emotional turmoil.
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including a Wellington house fire, the UK lowers the voting age, and the Obamas joke about divorce rumours. (Source: 1News)
She suffered tragedy in 1981 when her brother George was shot to death as he was leaving his New Jersey home. Later that decade, her father had her committed to a psychiatric hospital, where she was diagnosed as manic-depressive. At one point, she tried to kill herself by swallowing dozens of sleeping tablets. After three days in a coma, she recovered.
Around that time, she wrote to President Ronald Reagan and volunteered to help others, calling herself ″America's most famous crime victim". Reagan appointed her to a task force on violent crime.
″I don't want people to feel sorry for me,″ she told The New York Times in 1981. ″I have my voice, a gift from God I took for granted before. He gave it back to me.″
She was married four times and would say that only her third husband, Joseph Garzilli, was worth the trouble. The other marriages each lasted less than a year.
ADVERTISEMENT
Concetta Rosemarie Franconero was born on December 12, 1937, in Newark, New Jersey. At age 9 she began appearing on television programs, including Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and The Perry Como Show. It was Godfrey who suggested she shorten her last name.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Oversized Irish curtain and undersized window creates laughs for millions in viral video
Oversized Irish curtain and undersized window creates laughs for millions in viral video

NZ Herald

timea day ago

  • NZ Herald

Oversized Irish curtain and undersized window creates laughs for millions in viral video

TikTok user Brad Ben shocked users of the platform with the size of the window behind his hotel curtain. Photo / TikTok/@bben9450 Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. Already a subscriber? Sign in here Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen. 23 Jul, 2025 12:10 AM 2 mins to read Oversized Irish curtain and undersized window creates laughs for millions in viral video TikTok user Brad Ben shocked users of the platform with the size of the window behind his hotel curtain. Photo / TikTok/@bben9450 A video showing a TikTok user opening a grand curtain to a lacklustre window has amassed more than 35 million likes on the platform. The clip, posted by user Brad Ben, shows the holidaymaker striding across his hotel room in Galway, Ireland, before dramatically opening the floor length curtains. Revealed was a small square window where you'd expect to see a grand sized one showing panoramic views. The video was jokingly captioned 'Appreciating those views'.

Doll maker Sylvanian Families sues Tik Tok account over adult sketches involving alcohol, drugs and violence
Doll maker Sylvanian Families sues Tik Tok account over adult sketches involving alcohol, drugs and violence

NZ Herald

time2 days ago

  • NZ Herald

Doll maker Sylvanian Families sues Tik Tok account over adult sketches involving alcohol, drugs and violence

Adult sketches featuring the Sylvanian Families toys have gained the Sylvaniandrama TikTok account 2.5 million followers. Photo / TikTok/ sylvaniandrama Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. Already a subscriber? Sign in here Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen. Adult sketches featuring the Sylvanian Families toys have gained the Sylvaniandrama TikTok account 2.5 million followers. Photo / TikTok/ sylvaniandrama Sylvanian Families is at the centre of a legal battle with a TikTok creator. The beloved toys feature in videos from the Sylvaniandrama TikTok account, in which they are featured acting out adult sketches involving alcohol, drugs, cheating, violence and murder, but the Japanese manufacturer has taken exception to the social media content. Epoch Company Ltd has filed a copyright infringement case in the United States claiming the videos are causing 'irreparable injury' to the company's reputation. Thea Von Engelbrechten – the owner of the TikTok account that has amassed 2.5 million followers – has filed a counternotice claiming her works are 'parody'. Sylvanian Families are sold as 'an adorable range of distinctive animal characters with charming and beautiful homes, furniture and accessories'.

Young competitors fine-tune confidence on stage
Young competitors fine-tune confidence on stage

Otago Daily Times

time3 days ago

  • Otago Daily Times

Young competitors fine-tune confidence on stage

In fine voice at SongFest'25! yesterday are (clockwise from top left) Kahurangi Makiha, Max Smith, Poppy Hussey, Holly Hamilton, Mackenzie Dunnicliff, Rishi Shantapriyan, Yulia Wood, Kahurangi Potae-Tamatea and Lucy Appleton (centre). PHOTOS: GERARD O'BRIEN Hits from Miley Cyrus, Adele and Queen filled the air at the weekend as young singers blew "the back off the auditorium wall" for SongFest'25!. The three-day annual singing competition, for those aged 20 and under, began on Friday evening at the University of Otago Castle 1 lecture theatre and received a total of 58 entries from as far as Hamilton. Convener Peter Thomson said this was the competition's second year rebranded as "SongFest". The competition had been running for more than 75 years and was formerly known as the Green Island Junior Vocal Competition. Giving young people an opportunity to sing to an audience from a stage helped them to grow their confidence as a performer and their self-esteem, Mr Thomson said. It was "more than just a singing competition". "SongFest is all about a performance experience, to give the kids that performance experience singing from a stage. "What it enables them to do over the weekend is the more they do it, the less nerves they have." The look and feel had been changed to deliberately appeal to teenagers, Mr Thomson said. This included advertising more on social media and developing a TikTok presence. The competition had "much more depth about it now". "There's kids here with microphones singing to full backing tracks, and they were blowing the back off the auditorium wall. "It was a couple of girls singing jazz numbers, and we've never had that before. "Normally it's somebody playing a piano quietly and a kid standing there very still, singing beautifully. "Now they're standing there, it's like a performance in a pub or whatever. "There's quite a different vibe in the place now."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store