Everett Marco “Mac” Fontana (/fɔnˈtɑːnə/; July 25, 1915 - December 12, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the “Man with the Plan” and “Pipes of Gold”, he is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of the 20th century.

Early life
   Main article: Early life of Mac Fontana
Everett Marco “Mac” Fontana was born July 25, 1915 in New York City. His parents, Sal and Rosalee Fontana, newly immigrated from Sicily raised Mac in Little Italy. Sal ran an upholstery service which was well known for it’s striking visual style, he was an avid music listener and would from time to time hide 45s of his favourite songs inside the furniture that he was reupholstering. Rosalee was a homemaker with a fierce confident streak to her and a devout Catholic, she spent her days caring for the Fontana children. Mac was the oldest of his siblings, the others being his sister Mary and his brother Anthony. At an early age Mac started to develop his singing ability, it was commonplace for the whole family to gather around the piano after dinner and sing the standards of the day. The Fontana family never had that much money, being the oldest Mac felt the responsibility to help provide so he did whatever he could, odd jobs around town. He found his first steady job working in a barber shop sweeping the floors, to help pass the time he would sing as he swept – customers would enjoy this and would tip him handsomely. It was here that he was noticed by Vinny Maccoco, a member of the local mafia.

Alleged Mob Origin
   See also: The Millio Crime Family
Vinny took a shine to young Mac and saw in him a future in entertainment, so he took Mac under his wing. Mac performed at mafia run clubs, it was here that he was introduced to the glamorous lifestyle of being a “wise guy”, the suits, the drinking and smoking, the women, and the power. This would become an aspiration for Fontana as he strove to achieve that level of success to provide for his family. He was shielded at first the seedier side of the entertainment industry but soon enough Mac witnessed a patron who was in debt getting roughed up in the back of the bar. This did not deter Mac, he knew that this was the way the world works – everybody’s gotta eat.

Music Career
   See also: Mac Fonatana Discography
When he had a set of strong songs Vinny used his connections to get young Fontana into the prestigious Sonny Records Studios to record for their jazz subsidiary label “Cool Tone”. His first record “Singin’!” made a splash on the charts and it introduced Mac’s “pipes of gold” to the masses.

Move to Vegas
Mac had positioned himself well in the mob, his reputation gained him good favour with Don Millio – this irked Vinny because to him Mac was still that poor boy sweeping hair and begging for tips. In order to send a message Vinny and his crew gave Fontana a beat down “Remember where you came from kid! Without me you’d be NOTHING!” This incident left him with a distinctive scar on his chest. Mac vowed to get his revenge, but for the moment he couldn’t touch Vinny because he was a made guy – Mac brought his concerns to the Don and he moved Fontana to Las Vegas. This so happened to be a great move in general as the Millio family had invested in several new casinos and they needed entertainment. While in Vegas, Fontana had an explosion of popularity, his live shows brought the wealthiest clientele to the casinos, Fontana was an icon.

The Scoundrels
During this time he met other fellow showbiz superstars Don Sacremento and Art “Bonzo” Donnely they became the group known as “The Scoundrels”, they became the kings of the Vegas night life. One of his collaborations with Don Sacremento was a live album “Mac Fontana Live in Vegas with the Don Sacremento Big Band” it quickly became Fontana’s fastest selling record and hit the top the charts in record time.

Becoming a Made Man
Because of this wild success and his contributions to the Millio crime family Mac Fontana earned the honour of becoming a made man. Because of his new station, Fontana was able to request a sit down with the Don to discuss his reparations regarding Vinny Maccocio's abuse. Although he was offered the green light to go ahead with a hit, Fontana chose taking a sizeable cut of Maccocio's business profits - the greatest revenge is a life well lived and Fontana certainly did that. Going forward Maccocio answered to Mac Fontana.