Silvio Francesco

Italian Musician, Singer and film actor Silvio Francesco (1927-2000) is, despite his many talents, best known as the brother of Caterina Valente, with whom he sang many duets, danced, and played the clarinet in the shadow of his famous sister. Silvio Francesco Valente was born in 1927, in Paris, France. His mother Maria Valente was an internationally successful musical performer, and his father Giuseppe was a well-known accordion player. He grew up in a world of circus and variety and early on learned to play the guitar and clarinet. His younger sister was Caterina Valente, with whom he sang duets, often under pseudonyms like Club Manhattan or Club Italia. A huge hit was their Schlager Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Honolulu-Strand-Bikini. Caterina and her record company Decca tried to put Silvio in the spotlight and several records were released as Caterina und Silvio, and there were also EP's, with a song by Caterina Valente on one side and on the flip-side a song by Silvio Francesco. He also sang and danced in Schlagerfilms in which his sister played the leading part, such as Liebe, Tanz und 1000 Schlager/Love, Dance, and 1000 Songs (1955, Paul Martin) with Peter Alexander, Bonjour Kathrin (1956, Karl Anton), and Du bist Musik (1956, Paul Martin) with Paul Hubschmid. Without Caterina he starred in the comedy Küß mich noch einmal/Kiss Me Just One More Time (1956, Helmut Weiss) opposite Laya Raki. When Caterina moved over from Decca to Polydor Silvio Francesco got a new singing partner, Margot Eskens. Among their hits were Calypso Italiano (1957), Mondscheinpartie (1959), and Himmelblaue Serenade. Silvio appeared in more films: Casino de Paris (1957, André Hunebelle) starring Gilbert Bécaud, Vittorio De Sica and Caterina, ...und abends in die Scala (1958, Erik Ode) with Caterina, Du bist wunderbar/You Are Wonderful (1959, Paul Martin) with Caterina, Rudolf Prack and Dietmar Schönherr, and Marina (1960, Paul Martin) with Giorgia Moll and Rocco Granata. In the 1960's brother and sister reunited as a singing duo and had hits like Peppermint Twist, Madison in Mexico and Quando quando. During Caterina's world tours he was often her musical director and also appeared in many of her television shows, including Caterina from Heidelberg (1969), directed by Michael Pfleghar. When not performing, he lived in Campione d'Italia, where he managed a small hotel until the time of his death in 2000. In 1990, as Silvio F. Valente, he appeared in the horror satire My Lovely Monster (1990, Michael Bergmann) with Ferdy Mayne and Sarah Karloff, the daughter of Boris Karloff. It was his last leading role in a film. Seven years later he made his final television appearance in the series Wilde Zeiten/Wild Times (1997, Helmut Metzger). His Sister Caterina said of her brother , he was "the best partner I ever had".