Julius La Rosa

Julius La Rosa (January 2, 1930 – May 12, 2016) was an American traditional popular music singer, who worked in both radio and television beginning in the 1950s.

La Rosa was born of Italian-immigrant parents in Brooklyn.

He attended P.S. 123K in Bushwick.

At age 17, he joined the United States Navy after finishing high school, becoming a radioman.

He sang in a Navy choir, at the officers' club, and at bars to pay for his drinks.

La Rosa's Navy peers promoted him to Arthur Godfrey, one of America's leading radio and television personalities and a Naval Reserve officer himself.

George Andrews from Omaha, Nebraska, was a mechanic on Godfrey's airplane, and he struck up a conversation with Godfrey and told him that he should hear his friend sing.

They arranged a time for La Rosa to audition in Pensacola, Florida where La Rosa was stationed.

Godfrey was impressed and offered him a job.

He had La Rosa flown to New York to appear on his television show, with Godfrey ending the spot by saying, "When Julie gets out of the Navy he'll come back to see us."

La Rosa was discharged from the Navy on a Friday in November 1951, and he went to Godfrey on the following Monday and appeared on his variety show a week later.

He was a regular on both the morning Arthur Godfrey Time and the Wednesday night variety show Arthur Godfrey and His Friends.

La Rosa was on Godfrey's shows from November 19, 1951 to October 19, 1953.

Godfrey's band leader Archie Bleyer formed Cadence Records in 1952, and La Rosa was the first performer with whom they signed a contract.

Cadence's first single was also La Rosa's first recording of "Anywhere I Wander".

It reached the top 30 on the charts, and his next recording was "My Lady Loves to Dance", a moderate success.

Between his popular records and his appearances on Godfrey's shows, La Rosa's popularity grew exponentially.

At one point, his fan mail eclipsed Godfrey's. A year after La Rosa was hired, he was receiving 7,000 fan letters a week.

Arthur Godfrey's management style was a combination of paternal affection and dictatorial direction.

Years of speaking his mind, on and off the air, had conditioned him to do exactly as he pleased.

He regarded his employees as a family (the cast members were known as "the Little Godfreys") and he took an interest in them personally, but he was the boss and his word was law.

Godfrey had discouraged La Rosa and all other cast members from hiring a manager or booking agent; Godfrey preferred to handle these matters internally, with his staff coordinating and negotiating on the artists' behalf.

One of Godfrey's mandates was for all cast members to attend dance classes, to make them appear more graceful on camera.

La Rosa did not comply, claiming a family emergency.

Shortly thereafter, La Rosa hired a personal agent and manager, Tommy Rockwell.

Godfrey did not react well to receiving a formal notification that La Rosa had hired Rockwell.

After consulting with CBS president Frank Stanton, Godfrey went before the TV cameras for Arthur Godfrey Time on the morning of October 19, 1953.

After the televised portion of the program went off the air, the broadcast continued on the radio network.

La Rosa sang "Manhattan" – and Godfrey fired him on the air, announcing that La Rosa had become "his own star" and "that was Julie's swan song with us."

La Rosa did not return to the microphone.

La Rosa tearfully met with Godfrey after the broadcast and thanked him for giving him his "break."

La Rosa was then met at Godfrey's offices by his lawyer, his manager Tommy Rockwell, and some reporters.

Rockwell was highly critical of Godfrey's behavior, angrily citing La Rosa's public humiliation.

Godfrey subsequently explained that La Rosa had been fired because he lacked "humility."

This comment backfired badly on Godfrey.

Stanton regretted the on-air dismissal, later admitting, "Maybe it was a mistake."

Comedians began working the phrase "no humility" into their routines.

Singer Ruth Wallis, known for her raunchy double entendre novelty songs, recorded "Dear Mr. Godfrey", a biting satire on the matter, which made it to #25 on the Billboard charts in November 1953.

Almost immediately after firing La Rosa, Godfrey also fired bandleader Archie Bleyer, owner of La Rosa's label Cadence Records, for producing spoken-word records for Cadence featuring Chicago-based talk host Don McNeill.

Godfrey considered this an act of treason.