Frankie Valli - Early Life

Early Life

Valli was born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio in the First Ward of Newark, New Jersey. His father, Anthony Castelluccio, was a barber; His mother, Mary Rinaldi, was a homemaker. He was inspired to take up a singing career at the age of seven after his mother took him to see the young Frank Sinatra at the Paramount Theater in New York City. His early mentor was Texas singer Jean Valley, from whom he obtained his last name, although it took him some time to settle on the spelling "Valli". Until he could support himself with music, he worked as a barber.

As with many other celebrities, Valli's birth year has been called into question. Valli never addressed the issue himself, until the 2007 posting at the Official Frankie Valli Site, sponsored by his current record label, Universal Records. Much of the previous official publicity surrounding his career had used 1937 as the birth year. It is hard to tell when and why this occurred, but inference can be made that by chopping a few years off his age, he would seem more commercially viable to a younger audience. Other sources, such as the Bear Family Records release, entitled 'The Four Lovers' (BCD 15424), as well as a 1965 "mug shot", available through The Smoking Gun, all identify his year of birth as 1934.