WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – He was universally known as Tony Bennett, master of the Great American songbook.
But Anthony Benedetto, who died Friday at age 96, never left his birth name – or his north country ties – completely behind.
Although Bennett was born in Queens in 1926, he had a cousin in Watertown, Fred Benedetto, a longtime labor leader, and he was nephew to Dominick Benedetto, who lived in Pyrites in St. Lawrence County.
In April, 1989, Bennett played a concert at Watertown High School to benefit the Disabled Persons Action Organization, (DPAO).
Joe Rich, who founded and led the organization for many years, recalled picking up Bennett at the airport in Syracuse.
“All the time from Syracuse to Watertown, he was talking about his time in Pyrites, which he spent with his family,” Rich recalled Friday.
Then “at the show itself, he had so many aunts from up north, they enveloped him. I could not even see Tony. They surrounded him and hugged him – it was a wonderful family event,” Rich said.
After the show, Bennett and company went to Giovanni’s Restaurant on Leray Street.
“He sat down there in the restaurant, and he drew a picture of the waitress and he gave it to her and signed his name,” Rich said.
But what name did he use?
Toni Scordo, a longtime Watertown resident, is sister to the late Kay Benedetto, who was married to Bennett’s cousin Fred Benedetto, and Scordo pointed out Friday “when he does his pictures, he writes on the bottom ‘Tony Benedetto.’”
Bennett was an accomplished painter and over the years, his habit of signing ‘Benedetto’ was noted more than once.
Scordo met Bennett once, though in Boston, not the north country.
“He was wonderful. He said we’re paisans. He raved about his relatives, the Benedettos,” she said.
“He’s gonna be sadly missed, I can tell you that.”
Copyright 2023 WWNY. All rights reserved.
