by Steve HueyAl Martino was one of the great Italian-American pop crooners, boasting a string of hit singles and LPs that stretched from the early '50s all the way into the mid-'70s. However, he is perhaps even better known for his role in The Godfather as singer Johnny Fontane, a character supposedly based on Frank Sinatra but with eerie similarities to Martino's own career. Martino's 1952 debut smash, "Here in My Heart," made him the first American artist to top the charts in Great Britain, but his career was interrupted by gangster interference, which kept him out of the U.S. for much of the '50s. He later returned and rejuvenated his career, scoring his signature hit with 1965's classic "Spanish Eyes" and reaching a whole new audience via The Godfather in 1972.Martino was born Alfred Cini in Philadelphia on October 7, 1927. His Italian immigrant parents ran a masonry business, and he worked alongside his brothers as a bricklayer while gro...