'Another World' Emmy Nominee Julius La Rosa Dead at 86

Julius La Rosa

Julius La Rosa, the celebrated 1950s singer who reinvented himself as a television, stage and nightclub performer after his young career was thrown into turmoil by a bizarre and humiliating on-the-air firing by Arthur Godfrey before a national audience, died on Thursday at his home in Crivitz, Wis. He was 86.

His death was confirmed by his wife, Rosemary.

La Rosa was born in Brooklyn on Jan. 2, 1930, to Salvatore and Lucy Prestianni La Rosa. His father was a radio and television repairman. La Rosa's singing talent emerged early, and he performed in an all-city chorus while attending Grover Cleveland High School in Queens.

La Rosa was in the Navy when Arthur Godfrey invited him onto his CBS TV show. La Rosa later became a star of Godfrey’s show from 1951 to 1953, recording several hits. The public firing boosted La Rosa's TV career for a while.