Who Am I????? (state, Spain, France, slave)

[square peg]

Yes. Lizzie Borden. 6th cousin of Elizabeth Montgomery. And as tradition would have it, the next question is yours Bayarea4. And welcome aboard!

[Bayarea4]

Thank you, square peg!

I was born to a working-class family in a coastal city in Southern Europe. My mother died when I was a young boy. My father wanted me to be a mechanic like him, but I wanted to be a performer. My first teachers discouraged me, but I persisted. As a young man I hooked up with a married woman. We had two sons and lived as man and wife for many years until she ran off with our chauffeur. I would be scoffed at when I first arrived in the U.S., but eventually I would be hailed as the most important practitioner of my art who ever lived. Toward the end of my life I married the daughter of a wealthy, aristocratic man and had a daughter. My wife wrote a book about our life together that became a best-seller. I died of a massive infection when I was in my forties, but the a permanent legacy of my art lives on thanks to a technology that was considered a novelty until I helped make it popular. In the 1950s a movie was made of my life starring a handsome and gifted actor who died at an even younger age than I did.

[jtur88]

By an amazing coincidence, this very morning, I began to write a stumper for this thread, on Eddie Duchin, an innovative entertainer who lived to be 42, and was played in the 1950s film by Tyrone Power, who lived to be 44. I abandoned it because I couldn't come up with enough good clues.

[Bayarea4]

Originally Posted by jtur88

By an amazing coincidence, this very morning, I began to write a stumper for this thread, on Eddie Duchin, an innovative entertainer who lived to be 42, and was played in the 1950s film by Tyrone Power, who lived to be 44. I abandoned it because I couldn't come up with enough good clues.

That's a good guess, jtur, but unfortunately it's not the correct one.

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by Bayarea4

That's a good guess, jtur, but unfortunately it's not the correct one.

As I said, it was not a guess to this stumper--merely an interesting coincidence. I'm sure Gene Krupa / Sal Mineo is also wrong.

[Bayarea4]

Originally Posted by jtur88

As I said, it was not a guess to this stumper--merely an interesting coincidence. I'm sure Gene Krupa / Sal Mineo is also wrong.

Oops! Sorry, I took your post to be a guess. You're correct, Gene Krupa and Sal Mineo are also wrong. Please note that our mystery person was born in a Southern European country.

[jtur88]

The only actors I can think of who meet your criteria (made movies in 50s, died before 50, handsome and gifted) are Tyrone Power, James Dean and Montgomery Clift. Maybe Nick Adams, too.. None, as far as I can tell, played the part of a well-known European-born person in a biopic about him. So I'm stumped.

[Bayarea4]

Originally Posted by jtur88

The only actors I can think of who meet your criteria (made movies in 50s, died before 50, handsome and gifted) are Tyrone Power, James Dean and Montgomery Clift. Maybe Nick Adams, too.. None, as far as I can tell, played the part of a well-known European-born person in a biopic about him. So I'm stumped.

Ah, but I never said he was an actor, only a performer. Maybe I should help you out with a couple of hints. He was a singer who was born in the 19th century.

[jtur88]

Aha. Caruso, played by Mario Lanza.

[Bayarea4]

Originally Posted by jtur88

Aha. Caruso, played by Mario Lanza.

There you go, jtur. Congratulations!