Al Martino was an Italian singer and actor. He played Johnny Fontane in the original “Godfather,” “Godfather III” and the trilogy. He also sang the theme for the film. Al told me that he was blacklisted after he played the Fontane part because his character portrayal was based on Italian singer Frank Sinatra.  Director of the movie, Francis Ford Coppola originally took the part away from Martino and gave it to Vic Damone, but ultimately Al got the part. Marino had a ton of hit records on the Billboard charts.