About Alberto Rabagliati
Alberto Rabagliati (27 June 1906 – 8 March 1974) was an Italian jazz singer. == Early career == Alberto Rabagliati was born in Milan in 1906 from a Piedmontese family. His father, Leandro Valentino Rabagliati, and his mother, Delfina Besso, were both natives of Casorzo, a comune (municipality) in the hills of the Montferrat in the Province of Asti. In 1927, age 21, Rabagliati moved to Hollywood after winning a Rudolph Valentino look-alike contest. He later recalled: "For someone like me, who had seen no more than Lake Como or the Monza Cathedral, to find myself on board a luxury steamer with three cases full of clothes, a few rolls of dollars, and grand-duchesses and countesses flirting with me was something extraordinary". Rabagliati lived in America for four years hoping to work as an actor, but his career never took off. After being exposed to musical genres such as jazz, swing, and scat singing, he decided to move back to Europe and be a professional singer. == Singing == Rebagliati moved to Rome in 1931. After a brief period with Pippo Barzizza's orchestra, in 1934 he joined the Lecuona Cuban Boys, a Cuban jazz band. He occasionally performed in blackface and scored a hit with the song "Maria la O".
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.