Tony Orlando: 1944—: Singer

After a long recuperation, that included a six-month stay in a psychiatric hospital to help him kick his drug addiction and a brief period as a born-again Christian, Orlando decided to pursue a solo career. He became a staple in Las Vegas showrooms—25 weeks a year in his heyday—and recorded a solo album, Sweets For My Sweet, for Casablanca in 1979. He also dabbled in acting, debuting in the TV movie Three Hundred Miles For Stephanie, and making a guest appearance on The Bill Cosby Show. In 1980 he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway show Barnum. Orlando has continued to perform regularly since then, including a 1988 reunion with Dawn in Atlantic City. He also teamed up with his friend Jerry Lewis for a series of shows in the early 1990s at the Las Vegas Hilton and Riviera hotels.

In 1993 Orlando moved to the Ozarks to perform in a variety show in Branson, Missouri, where he opened his own theater, the Yellow Ribbon Music Theater. It was grueling work—he would do 400 shows a year from April to December—but he enjoyed the enthusiastic audiences and change of pace that Branson offered his family. The Missouri residency also gave him time to produce two themed musicals with original songs, including a show based on the life of his grandfather, musician Leon Stanley.

Orlando hit the road again in 1999, taking another Broadway turn in Smokey Joe's Café. This came soon after he ended litigation with former friend and business partner Wayne Newton over a failed joint venture in Branson. Orlando's suit, which asked for more than $15 million and accused Newton of damaging his reputation and wrongly throwing him out of the theater they once shared, was settled with a gag order on both sides. He has been working on an album's worth of new songs with an autobiographical theme. One of the songs, "Carribean Jewel," is a nod to his Greek and Puerto Rican heritage. Another, "Papito Played the Trumpet," is about his grandfather. While his old hits with Dawn continue to sell records, Orlando realized that it may be difficult to sell another solo album.

Orlando married his second wife, Francine Amormino, in 1991. They have a daughter, Jenny Rose, and a son, Jon, from his first marriage. He continues to tour, performing about 150 nights a year. As Orlando told Entertainment Tonight, "Everybody has that new time in their life when they are the new act and hot. That moment in your career only comes once and you're probably not as good in your craft until you get to the point in your career where you say this is my 43rd year. So right now when I do a show I know what I am doing, and I have the same enjoyment now as I did when I had the dream. So how bad could it be? As I say in the book I am Halfway to Paradise."