URBAN LEGEND: Did friends and family keep the news of crooner's Russ Columbo's death from his own mother until her death?
ANSWER: Yes, that urban legend is true!
Russ Columbo's family kept his death a secret from his mother, Mrs. Columbo, in a "tender deceit" to protect her. They did not inform her that he had died when he was killed in 1934, and the deception continued for ten years until her own death in 1944. The family's decision to hide the news of his death was an act of kindness, intending to spare his mother the grief of his sudden passing.To maintain the elaborate deception, people wrote fake letters from him, suggesting he was on a long tour in Europe. They played records of his old radio shows to make it seem as though his broadcasts were still ongoing. Also they persuaded friends and acquaintances to talk as if Columbo were still alive.
Giulia "Julia" Colombo died on August 30, 1944 never knowing her famous song had died a decade earlier...
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