Samuel Mendola (born August 26, 1942, Buffalo, New York, United States), known professionally as Vic Dana, is an American singer, dancer and actor.
Biography.
Discovered by Sammy Davis Jr., Dana was an excellent male dancer, particularly in tap, and was encouraged by Davis to move to Los Angeles to further his career. With the decline of dancing as a form of entertainment, Dana began a singing career. He is best known for his 1965 Billboard Top Ten hit recording of the Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett song "Red Roses for a Blue Lady". His album of the same title made it into the Top 20. Preceding this success as a solo artist, Dana was the lead singer of The Fleetwoods (for live performances only), replacing original vocalist Gary Troxel when Troxel went into the U.S. Navy.
Other hit recordings on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart in the 1960s: "Little Altar Boy", "I Will", "More", "Shangri-La", "I Love You Drops", and "If I Never Knew Your Name". "I Love You Drops" was written and recorded by country singer Bill Anderson, and was popular enough to be recorded by others including Don Cherry and Teresa Brewer. He also scored a chart record in 1970 with Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine", years before it was turned into a UK number one hit by UB40. His last nationally charted record was Larry Weiss' "Lay Me Down (Roll Me Out To Sea)" on the Casino label, which hit the top 20 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary survey.
Six Dana songs reached the "Music Vendor" (later "Record World") chart without appearing in the "Billboard" chart.
Dana had a brief foray as an actor on three TV appearances, first in 1965 on the series "Burke's Law" in the episode "Who Killed Wimbledon Hastings?" as Forrest Shea, and then in 1966 on the WWII drama "Combat!" in the episode "Ask Me No Questions" as Pvt. James. He also appeared in the 1968 television movie "Shadow Over Elveron" as Tino.
Personal life.
Dana has three children, Steven, Jason and Justin. Dana retired from the entertainment industry and now resides in Paducah, Kentucky.
Vic was married to Kelly Dana, formerly Kelly Riley. Kelly and Vic were married for 21 years before Kelly died suddenly in 2021.
References.
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