Tony Orlando
Birthday: Born in 1944-04-03 in New York City, New York, U.S.
Deathday: Alive
Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis (born April 3, 1944), better known as Tony Orlando, is an Americanshow business professional, best known as the lead singer of the group Tony Orlando and Dawn in the early 1970s. Discovered by producer Don Kirshner, Orlando had songs on the charts in 1961 when he was 16, "Halfway to Paradise" and "Bless You". Orlando then became a producer himself, and at an early age was promoted to a vice-president position at CBS Records, where he was in charge of the April-Blackwood Music division. He sang under the name "Dawn" in the 1970s, and when the songs became hits, he went on tour and the group became "Tony Orlando and Dawn". They had several songs which were major hits including "Candida", "Knock Three Times", and "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree". The group hosted a variety program, "The Tony Orlando and Dawn Show" on CBS from 1974–76, and then broke up in 1978. Orlando then continued as a solo singer, performing in Las Vegas and Branson, Missouri.[1] Orlando has hosted the New York City portions of the MDA Labor Day Telethon on WWOR-TV since the 1980s but quit in 2011 in response to Jerry Lewis' firing from the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
TV Credits
The Cosby Show
Character: Tony Castillo
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on the Huxtable family, an upper middle-class African-American family living in Brooklyn, New York....
Chico and the Man
Character:
Chico and the Man is an American sitcom which ran on NBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974, to July 21, 1978. It stars Jack Albertson as Ed Brown, the cantankerous owner of a run down garage in an East Los Angeles barrio, and Freddie Prinze as Chico Rodriguez, an upbeat, optimistic Chicano young man who comes in looking for a job. It was the first U.S. television series set in a Mexican-American neighborhood....
Las Vegas
Character: Tony Orlando
Ed Deline is a strict ex-CIA officer who went from being Head of Security to becoming President of Operations of the Montecito, whose job is to run the day-to-day operations of the casino. Following his departure, former Marine Danny McCoy, Ed's former protégé, becomes the Montecito's new President of Operations....
MADtv
Character: Self
MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by Mad magazine. The one-hour show aired Saturday nights on Fox....
Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters
Character: Self
Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters is an American variety show hosted by Barbara, Louise, and Irlene Mandrell that aired on NBC for two season in 1980....
Tony Orlando and Dawn
Character: Self
CBS gave the group a television variety show (entitled Tony Orlando and Dawn) from the summer of 1974, after The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour ended its run, until December 1976. The show was in the same vein as its predecessor (with sketches featuring sarcastic back-and-forth banter between Orlando, Hopkins and Vincent, similar to the sarcastic dialogue between Sonny and Cher) and became a Top 20 hit. They are most famous for "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" & "Knock Three Times"!...
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Character: Self
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts is a NBC television special show hosted by entertainer Dean Martin from 1974 to 1984. For a series of 54 specials and shows, Martin would periodically "roast" a celebrity. These roasts were patterned after the roasts held at the New York Friars' Club in New York City. The format would have the celebrity guest seated at a banquet table, and one by one the guest of honor was affectionately chided or insulted about his career by his fellow celebrity friends. In 197...
Oswald
Character: Sammy Starfish (voice)
The story of a blue octopus and his dog that looks like a hotdog, named Weenie, and their friends like Daisy the daisy, and Henry the penguin. They go on adventures in their town that usually involve a problem that needs to be solved....
The Mike Douglas Show
Character: Self - Co-Host
The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that originally aired only in the Cleveland area during much of its first two years on the air. It then went into syndication in 1963 and remained on television until 1982. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia....
Dinah!
Character: Self
Dinah's show premiered 9 September 1974 and continued through to 4 September 1981. She started out the 70's with Dinah's Place which usually featured one guest and was more of a home oriented show about cooking, crafts and occasionally music. This format lasted until May of 1974. When the show came back in October of 1974 the format had changed drastically to a variety talk show which was called Dinah. and went on until 1981. This show was also known as "Dinah and Friends" during the summer of 1...
The Mike Douglas Show
Character: Self
The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that originally aired only in the Cleveland area during much of its first two years on the air. It then went into syndication in 1963 and remained on television until 1982. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia....
Dice
Character: Self
Hickory, dickory, dock — the Dice Man's back and he's ready to rock. The semi-true stories of Andrew Dice Clay, whose unique brand of humor often gets him in trouble. Once on top, the comedian now must work to resurrect his career, pay his gambling debts, manage his sons’ rock band, fend off old fans and keep his family afloat....
Movie Credits
The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1976
Character: Self
For his 1976 Christmas special taped November 1-6, Cash went home to the family's farm in Bon Aqua, Tennessee, and to their house in Hendersonville, outside Nashville. The rural setting at Bon Aqua invites city-boy/country-boy ribbing between Cash and his first guest, Manhattan-born pop veteran Tony Orlando, who points out that "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" is "my prison song". Join other special guests Roy Clark, Merle Travis, Barbara Mandrell and Billy Graham in this holiday-inspired first Christmas ...
The Kingdom Chums - Original Top Ten
Character: Christopher (voice)
Join Petey, Annie, and Osborne as they meet the Kingdom Chums and embark on a fun-filled, colorful quest. Essie, Christopher, Marvelous Mose, Little Miriam, and Little David teach the kids the meaning of the Original Top Ten, the Ten Commandments! With a song for each commandment, your kids will be sure to sing a long with each catchy tune!...
A Star Is Born
Character: Self
Drunken, has-been rock star John Norman Howard falls in love with unknown singer Esther Hoffman after seeing her perform at a club. He lets her sing a few songs at one of his shows and she becomes the talk of the music industry. Esther's star begins to rise, while John's continues to fall. She tries desperately to get John to sober up and focus on his music, but it may be too late to save him....
Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story
Character: Jose Ferrer
The story of singer Rosemary Clooney's rise to fame, her marriage to Jose Ferrer, and her nervous breakdown....
Gone Before His Time: Freddie Prinze Sr.
Character: Self (archive footage)
A deep dive into the short yet impactful life of the trailblazing Latino comic whose son also went on to a career of much acclaim....
That's My Boy
Character: Steve Spirou
While in his teens, Donny fathered a son, Todd, and raised him as a single parent up until Todd's 18th birthday. Now, after not seeing each other for years, Todd's world comes crashing down when Donny resurfaces just before Todd's wedding....
Sandy Wexler
Character: Testimonial
When a hapless but dedicated talent manager signs his first client who actually has talent, his career finally starts to take off....
300 Miles for Stephanie
Character: Alberto Rodriguez
A San Antonio cop, as an act of faith, vows to run more than 300 miles in five days, hoping his critically ill five-year-old daughter will survive to greet him at the finish....
Tony Orlando & Dawn: The Ultimate Collection
Character: Self
While Tony Orlando and Dawn enjoyed a successful recording career in the '70s, not everyone remembers that they were also the stars of a network television show, but loyal fans can get a reminder of their years on TV with this three DVD box set, which features four episodes from Tony Orlando and Dawn's original run in 1974/1975 (Disc 1), and seven assorted installments from the show's three seasons as an extra attraction (Discs 2 & 3)....
Waking Up in Reno
Character: Self
Candy and Lonnie Earl are just crazy about each other. The problem: she's married to Roy and he's married to Darlene. So far it's been a secret affair. But that's about to change, because this foursome is driving cross-country and headed for some big surprises....
Lynda Carter: Street Life
Character: Self
Lynda Carter stars in her fourth musical TV special with guests George Benson, Tony Orlando, and Frank Stallone....
Robert Shields: My Life as a Robot
Character: Self
Award Winning Documentary on the Life of Artist Robert Shields. “Robert Shields: My Life as a Robot” is a documentary that will make you believe that your actions can have an inspirational effect on so many lives - and you may not even be aware of it. An icon of the 70’s, Robert began his career doing his robot in front of the Hollywood Wax Museum and a few short years later had his own top rated Prime Time CBS Variety show with his beautiful wife Lorene called: “The Shields & Yarnell Show”. A...
A Christmas Card from Branson
Character: Himself
Have yourself a merry little Christmas with some of your favorite country music stars from Branson, Missouri....