Mario Lanza’s immediate family faced a series of tragedies after his death. His wife, Betty, struggled with mental health issues and died five years later. Their four children also faced various difficulties in life.
Mario Lanza, the celebrated tenor and Hollywood star, passed away suddenly from a heart attack in 1959 at the age of 38. His untimely death left his family in a state of shock and grief. Lanza was survived by his wife, Betty Lanza, and their four children: Colleen, Elisa, Marc, and Damon.
Betty Lanza, who had been married to Mario since 1945, was deeply affected by her husband’s death. She suffered from bouts of depression and was hospitalized for mental health issues several times. Unfortunately, Betty’s struggles with her mental health continued, and she died in 1969, just five years after Mario, from a drug overdose that was ruled accidental.
The Lanza children were left to navigate life without their parents at relatively young ages. Colleen, the eldest, pursued a private life, while Elisa had a brief acting career. Marc became a successful businessman, and Damon followed in his father’s footsteps to some extent, becoming a singer and actor, though he never reached the same level of fame.
The family’s legacy, however, has been kept alive through the Mario Lanza Institute and Museum in Philadelphia, which was established to honor the singer’s memory and to support young vocal talent. Despite the hardships they faced, the Lanza children have worked to preserve their father’s contributions to music and film.
