Connie Francis, the iconic pop star of the 1950s and 1960s, has passed away at the age of 87.
Francis rose to fame as a teenager and scored a string of worldwide hit songs, including “Pretty Little Baby” and “Who’s Sorry Now”, which would later serve as an ironic title for a personal life filled with heartbreak and tragedy.
A Teen Sensation
Francis was a top performer of the pre-Beatles era, rarely off the charts from 1957 to 1964. ‘
She was able to appeal to both young people and adults, with more than a dozen top 20 hits, 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 favorites of her time, she also starred in several films, including “Where the Boys Are” and “Follow the Boys”.
A Rise to Stardom
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.
It, too, had little success initially until Dick Clark played it on his American Bandstand show in 1958.
Francis followed with such teen hits as “Stupid Cupid”, “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool”, and “Lipstick on Your Collar”.
A Turbulent Personal Life
Francis became romantically involved with fellow teen idol Bobby Darin after he offered to write songs for her. However, when her father heard rumors that the pair were 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.”
Francis suffered tragedy in 1981 when her brother George was shot to death as he was leaving his New Jersey home. Later in the decade, her father had her committed to a mental hospital, where she was diagnosed as manic-depressive.
At one point, she attempted suicide by swallowing dozens of sleeping tablets. After three days in a coma, she recovered.
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.