Is Frankie Avalon Still Alive? Check His Age, Net Worth, Wife, Bio and More

Is Frankie Avalon Still Alive?

Yes, Frankie Avalon is still alive. He became famous in the mid-1950s and early 1960s with hit songs and starred in popular beach movies for young audiences.

As a talented trumpet player, Avalon was already performing at a young age. While still a teenager, he joined a band called Rocco and the Saints, where future pop star Bobby Rydell was the drummer. With guidance from his manager, Bob Marcucci, Avalon started a singing career and gained fame on the TV show American Bandstand. Known for his good looks and clean image, he became a teen idol, and other stars like Bobby Rydell and Fabian soon followed. Between 1958 and 1962, Avalon had over 20 hit songs, including the number-one hits "Venus" (1959) and "Why" (1960).

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Who is Frankie Avalon?

Frankie Avalon, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an American singer and actor. Frankie Avalon had 31 songs on the U.S. Billboard charts between 1958 and 1962. Two of his biggest hits were "Venus" and "Why," both from 1959. He is the oldest living singer who had a solo number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

In the 1960s, Avalon started acting in movies. He became famous for starring in the Beach Party films and later had a role in the 1978 musical movie Grease, where he sang "Beauty School Dropout."

Frankie Avalon Age

Frankie Avalon is 83 years old born on September 18, 1940. Frankie Avalon worked with actress and singer Annette Funicello as the romantic couple in the Beach Party movies, which were popular in the 1960s. He kept singing and acting into the 2000s, performing in nightclubs and making small appearances on TV and in movies. In 2015, he also published a cookbook called Frankie Avalon’s Italian Family Cookbook.

Frankie Avalon Net Worth

Frankie Avalon's net worth is $20 million. He had 31 hit songs on the U.S. Billboard charts from 1958 to late 1962. Some of his popular songs included "Just Ask Your Heart" (No. 7), "I'll Wait for You" (No. 5), "Bobby Sox to Stockings" (No. 8), and "A Boy Without a Girl" (No. 10). While he was not as popular in the U.K., he still had four chart hits there with songs like "Why," "Ginger Bread," "Venus," and "Don't Throw Away All Those Teardrops."

Most of his hit songs were written or produced by Bob Marcucci, the head of Chancellor Records. As Avalon focused more on his acting career, his music career slowed down, and "Why" in 1959 was his last top 10 hit.

Frankie Avalon Parents

Frankie Avalon’s parents were Mary and Nicholas Avallone. His mother came from Sicily, and his father was born in Philadelphia. Nicholas, his father, worked as a butcher. His father’s side of the family was also from Italy—his grandfather, Francesco, came from Salerno in the Campania region, and his grandmother was from Sicily.

Frankie Avalon Wife and Children

Frankie Avalon has been married to his wife Kathryn Diebel for 60 years, since 1963. They have eight children together. When they got married, Avalon was a rising star with hit songs like "Venus" and "Why," and Diebel was a finalist in a beauty pageant called the Miss Rheingold Contest.

Shortly after getting married, Frankie Avalon’s movie career took off when he starred in Beach Party with Annette Funicello. In the early 1960s, the two appeared in several Beach Party spinoff movies. However, Avalon is most famous for playing Teen Angel in the 1978 musical Grease, where he sang "Beauty School Dropout" to the character Frenchy.

While Avalon was growing his acting and singing career, he and his wife, Kathryn Diebel, were also growing their family. In 10 years, they had eight children—four boys and four girls. Today, they are also proud grandparents to eight grandchildren.

“Raising eight children, my wife did a sensational job,” Avalon said of Diebel during an appearance on The Rosie O'Donnell Show in 1997. The singer noted that Diebel had her hands full at home, especially when he was away on set or in the studio. “We didn’t have any help in the house or anything like that, so she did all the bathing and stuff by herself,” he added.

With all their kids grown and out of the house, the pair live a relatively quiet life. On Sundays, Avalon and Diebel cook up a big Italian spread for their family every weekend as a way to keep in touch and connect to their Italian roots.

Frankie Avalon Career

In December 1952, Frankie Avalon first appeared on American TV, playing the trumpet in a Christmas sketch on The Jackie Gleason Show. In 1954, two singles were released that showed off his trumpet skills. He also played the trumpet on some of the songs in his albums. As a teenager, he performed with Bobby Rydell in a band called Rocco and the Saints.

In 1959, Avalon's song "Venus" was a big hit, staying at number one for five weeks. His song "Why" also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. "Why" was the last number one hit of the 1950s.

In the late 1950s, teen stars were often cast in movies to appeal to younger audiences. For example, Ricky Nelson appeared in Rio Bravo (1959). Alan Ladd's daughter was a fan of Frankie Avalon, so she suggested he co-star with her father in the Western film Guns of the Timberland (1960). In the movie, Avalon sang two songs, "The Faithful Kind" and "Gee Whiz Whillikins Golly Gee," which were also released as singles.

Alan Ladd had planned to pair Avalon and his daughter in another movie called Six Steps to Freedom, but that film was never made.