In 1959, she was nominated for a Grammy Award.Ĭaterina Valente was a principal, along with Carol Burnett and Bob Newhart, on the short-lived CBS variety series The Entertainers (1964–65).Ī briglia sciolta, the Italian jazz CD recorded in 1989 and re-released in later years under the titles Fantastica and Platinum deluxe, is Valente’s best-selling CD worldwide. Over the years, she has recorded or performed with many international stars, including Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker, Perry Como, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Claus Ogerman, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Sy Oliver, Buddy Rich and Edmundo Ros. There she recorded Cole Porter’s I Love Paris under the German title Ganz Paris träumt von der Liebe, which sold more than 500,000 copies in 1954. In Germany she was a major performer of Schlager music. They had a son, Alexander, but they divorced in 1979. In 1972, she married the British pianist Roy Budd. Between 19 she was a frequent guest on the Dean Martin Show. In the mid 1960s, Caterina Valente worked with Claus Ogerman and recorded material in both Italian and English that he arranged/conducted and/or composed on the Decca and London labels.
In 1955, she was featured on the “Colgate Comedy Hour” with Gordon MacRae. Soon afterwards she achieved great success with songs such as “Malagueña”, “The Breeze and I”, and “Dreh dich nicht um” with the Werner Müller orchestra. In 1953, she made her first recordings with Kurt Edelhagen. Their son is the singer Eric van Aro, Jr. He recognized her talent and accompanied her in her initial years of worldwide success, although they later divorced. In 1952, she married the juggler Erik van Aro (Gerd Eric Horst Scholz). She had three siblings, one of whom, Silvio Francesco, was also active in show business. Her father Giuseppe was a well-known accordion player her mother, Maria Valente, a musical clown. She was born into an Italian artist family. Caterina Valente (born 14 January 1931, Paris) is an Italian singer, dancer, and actress.