Bobby Rydell

Bobby Rydell
Name:	Robert Louis Ridarelli
Born:	April 26, 1942
Birth Hometown:	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died:	April 5, 2022
Place of death:	Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Occupation:	Singer, actor
Years active:	1958-2022

Bobby Rydell (born Robert Louis Ridarelli; April 26, 1942 – April 5, 2022) was an American singer and actor who mainly performed rock and roll music. In the early 1960s he was considered a teen idol. His most well-known songs include "Wild One" and "Volare" (cover); he appeared in the movie Bye Bye Birdie in 1963

Career

Rydell was the son of Jennie (Sapienza) and Adrio "Al" Ridarelli; he grew up in the Lower Moyamensing neighborhood of South Philadelphia. In 1950, he won a talent show on the television series Paul Whiteman's TV Teen Club and gained a spot in the cast, where he remained for several years. He changed his name to Bobby Rydell and played in several bands in the Philadelphia area. After releasing three unsuccessful singles for small companies, he signed a recording contract with Cameo Records. After a couple of flops "Kissin' Time" made the charts in 1959. In May 1960, Rydell toured Australia with The Everly Brothers, Billy "Crash" Craddock, Marv Johnson, The Champs, and The Crickets. He recorded an Australian version of "Kissin' Time" for the tour. His second success was "We Got Love". It was his first album to sell a million copies and obtained gold disc status. "Wild One", followed with "Little Bitty Girl", was his second million-selling single. He continued releasing hit songs with "Swingin' School" which was backed by "Ding-A-Ling", and Volare later that year sold over a million copies. He performed at the Copacabana in New York City in 1961, where he was the youngest performer to headline at the nightclub. In February 1961 he appeared at the Festival du Rock, at the Palais des Sports de Paris in Paris, France.

Rydell's success and prospects led his father, Adrio, a foreman at the Electro-Nite Carbon Company in Philadelphia, to resign in 1961 after 22 years to become his son's road manager.

Rydell released the song "Wildwood Days" in 1963, in honor of the shore town Wildwood, New Jersey; it reached Number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remained on the chart for nine weeks. A mural on the Wildwood boardwalk (painted in 2014) honors Rydell, whose song placed the community in the national spotlight.

That same year, he played Hugo Peabody in the movie version of Bye Bye Birdie with Ann-Margret and Dick Van Dyke. The original stage production of Bye Bye Birdie had no real speaking role for the character of Hugo, but the movie script was rewritten specifically to expand the part for Rydell. In 2011, Sony Pictures digitally restored this film. Rydell and Ann-Margret were in attendance at the restoration premiere in Beverly Hills by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

During the 1960s, Rydell had numerous hit records on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. His recording career earned him 34 Top 100 hits, placing him in the Top 5 artists of his era (Billboard). They included his most popular successes: "Wild One" (his highest scoring single, at number 2), "Volare" (number 4), "Swingin' School" (number 5), "Kissin' Time" (number 11), "Sway" (number 14), "I've Got Bonnie" (number 18), and "The Cha-Cha-Cha" (number 10). His last major chart success was "Forget Him", which reached number 4 on the Hot 100 in January 1964. The song, written by Tony Hatch, was his fifth and final gold disc winner.

Rydell left Cameo-Parkway Records later in 1964 and signed with Capitol Records. By this point, the British Invasion had arrived and acts such as Rydell suffered a dramatic decline in popularity.

During this time, he performed on many television programs, including the Red Skelton Show, where a recurring role was written for him by Red Skelton as Zeke Kadiddlehopper, Clem Kadiddlehopper's younger cousin. He also appeared on The Danny Thomas Show, Jack Benny, Joey Bishop, and The George Burns Show. He was a regular on The Milton Berle Show and was a panelist on "To Tell the Truth" in 1964. On October 6, 1964, he made a guest appearance on the episode 'Duel' of the television series Combat!; it was Rydell's first dramatic acting role.

In 1963, Rydell starred in an unsold television pilot called Swingin' Together produced by Desilu Productions, which featured him as the frontman for a four-piece rock 'n roll band seeking their big break. It was also during this time, Rydell served in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 103rd Engineer Battalion.

In January 1968, it was announced in the U.K. music magazine NME that Rydell had signed a long term recording contract with Reprise Records. He continued to perform in nightclubs, supper clubs and Las Vegas venues throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but his career was hampered by Cameo-Parkway catalog owner ABKCO Records' refusal to reissue Rydell's music, so the entire catalog was unavailable until 2005 (although he re-recorded his hits in 1995 for K-tel Records). He would have one more hit after 1965, a disco re-recording of "Sway" which reached the adult contemporary music chart in 1976.

Rydell continued to tour throughout the remainder of his life, often with Frankie Avalon and Fabian; they performed under the name The Golden Boys. His autobiography was published in 2016.

Personal life

Rydell was married to his first wife, Camille Quattrone Ridarelli, for 35 years from 1968 until her death in 2003 and they had two children. He married Linda Hoffman in 2009. Rydell was a longtime resident of Penn Valley, Pennsylvania and lived in the same house from 1963 to 2013.

Health and death

Rydell cancelled a 2012 Australia tour because his health had deteriorated significantly and he was in need of urgent major surgery.On July 9, 2012, he underwent a double organ transplant to replace his liver and one kidney at Thomas Jefferson University in his hometown of Philadelphia. In January 2013, six months after double transplant surgery, Rydell returned to the stage in Las Vegas for a three night engagement to a sold out audience. He continued to perform internationally and returned to tour Australia in 2014.

Rydell died from complications of pneumonia at Abington Jefferson Hospital on April 5, 2022, at the age of 79.

Shows appeared

• Password
• To Tell the Truth
• What's This Song?
• The Dating Game
• Hollywood Squares
• Musical Chairs

Show judged

• Dream Girl of '67