Profiles

    Arriving in Hollywood in 1979 to pursue his dream of becoming an actor, Leo Grillo’s life was transformed by a dream of a completely different sort. The majestic creature came to Leo Grillo in dream after dream after dream. Not that those visions meshed exactly with his occupational dream at the time. It was 1979, and Grillo, the new kid in town, was working hard to get his Hollywood career off the ground. Then came a plot twist straight out of Tinseltown. For no specific reason, Grillo embarked on a road trip to Bakersfield, some 100 miles north …

Too young to join the Signal Corps, Tony Vaccaro defied his superiors and spirited a $47 camera into the teeth of battle, taking some of the most gripping photos of World War II while charting the course of his professional life. Huddled alongside his fellow infantrymen in a transport speeding across the English Channel, Private First Class Tony Vaccaro didn’t know he was headed to Omaha Beach on June 18, 1944, a little more than a week after the D-Day invasion had commenced. Before boarding the ship, Vaccaro’s superiors sternly warned the American soldiers that anyone caught taking pictures would …

With gratitude, grit and generosity, Walter S. Arnold is on a mission to save an Italian cemetery’s incredible, endangered works. To see Michelangelo’s sculptures of the Unfinished Slaves — a 16th-century project meant for the tomb of Pope Julius II, but abandoned when the money ran out — is to behold figures clenched in an eternal, tortured struggle to break loose from the marble that encases them. They bear mute testimony to what the artist once said, that he worked to liberate forms imprisoned in marble: that his job was simply to remove the extraneous. And many sculptures must be …

A spy for the Allies and a participant in the underground railroad that protected Italy’s Jews during World War II, Giuseppe Lella considered himself a coward until an American author persuaded him to share his story with the world. The war came to Giuseppe “Pino” Lella right as he watched Fred Astaire dance with Rita Hayworth. It was the summer of 1943 and Lella, then 17 years old, was sitting next his brother, Mimmo, at a movie theater in his native Milan watching the cinematic duo twirl across the screen. For a brief moment, the war that had engulfed Europe …

Her family has made music strings for hundreds of years. As head of the D’Addario Foundation, Suzanne D’Addario Brouder toils to make music education possible for underserved kids. Imagine growing up among music royalty, the guitar-string makers to the stars. These days, the roll call of artists using D’Addario strings includes the likes of Keith Urban, Dave Matthews, Joe Satriani, Al Di Meola, Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits — and if you’ve got a few hours, we could supply you a list of hundreds more. Is it fair to say that the D’Addario family — which has been at this …

  As the senator representing North and Central America in the Italian Parliament for seven of the last 12 years, Renato Turano fought fiercely for his constituents and made great strides on their behalf. As Renato Turano’s illustrious career as an Italian senator comes to close, he returns to his life in America with a suitcase full of memories and accomplishments. First elected in 2006 to represent North and Central America in the Italian Senate, he joined an elite band of six senators and 12 deputies voted in by 5 million Italian citizens scattered across six continents. That monumental task …

The Order Sons of Italy in America, Grand Lodge of Illinois & Wisconsin, headed north for its 17th annual Leonardo da Vinci Awards of Excellence Gala, hosting the event on May 6 at the Roma Lodge in Racine. The event featured a buffet luncheon at noon and an awards ceremony. Profiles of the honorees follow: Peter Barca Representative Peter Barca is a lifelong citizen of Kenosha and Somers. He currently serves as State Representative from the 64th Assembly District, which includes much of the City of Kenosha and portions of the City of Racine, Town of Somers, Village of Mount …

The Chicagoland Italian American Charitable Organization honored Remo Turano as Humanitarian of the Year at its Honor & Hope Gala on April 28 at the Medinah Shrine Center in Addison. More than a dozen scholarships were presented at the event, along with donations to a wounded veteran and other worthy causes. A profile of Turano follows: Remo Turano As a boy, Remo Turano helped out in his family’s bakery business. As a young adult, he instilled knowledge as a classroom teacher. As a young husband, he circled back to the family business, branching out into sweets and pastries. He has …

IA Literati 2018 — Casa Italia’s 14th annual celebration of local Italian-American authors — ran from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 12 in the Florentine Room of the Italian Cultural Center in Stone Park. Book sales and signings, raffles, and a meet-and-greet with the authors took place at 9:30 a.m. Authors will read from their works starting at 10 a.m. Several new authors such as Frank Cesario, Anne Marie Cina, Lee Colsant and Steve Decker took part in the event along with veteran literati Arthur Cola, Dr. Bruno Cortis, Kathy DeNicolo, Tony Romano and Adam Sedia. The moderator …

Despite ascending to a comedic pantheon that includes the likes of Seinfeld and Chappelle, he remains rooted thanks to his Sicilian-American upbringing. When talking about ace standup Sebastian Maniscalco, Jerry Seinfeld once lovingly quipped, “Has anybody in the history of comedy had more syllables in their name?” That’s how you know Maniscalco, a comedian who has spent the last 20 years building a career up from scratch, has finally reached rock-star standup status. Here was Seinfeld, the reigning king of comedians who reportedly earned $69 million last year alone for his own standup, inviting Maniscalco on his streaming show, “Comedians …