Dutch postcard, no. 162. Paul Anka (1941) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor. Anka became famous in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s with hit songs like Diana (1957), Lonely Boy (1959), Put Your Head on My Shoulder (1959), and (You're) Having My Baby (1974). He wrote the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and the English lyrics for Frank Sinatra's signature song, My Way (1969). Paul Albert Anka was born in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1941. His parents, Camelia and Andy Anka owned a restaurant called the Locanda, that was popular with local entertainers. He taught himself to play guitar and piano as a teen and formed a vocal group called the Bobbysoxers with friends that performed locally in Ottawa. Paul Anka recorded his first single, I Confess, when he was 14. In 1957 he went to New York City where he auditioned for Don Costa at ABC. He sang the original song Diana (1957). He was quickly offered a recording contract, and Diana rocketed to #1 on the Canadian and U.S. music charts. With dales of more than 20 million copies, Diana is one of the best-selling singles ever by a Canadian recording artist. He followed up with four songs that made it into the Top 20 in 1958, including It's Time to Cry, which hit #4. Only 17, he was one of the biggest teen idols of the time. He toured Britain, then Australia with Buddy Holly. Anka wrote for him It Doesn't Matter Anymore, which Holly recorded just before he died in 1959. Anka's next hit Puppy Love (1960) was inspired by his girlfriend Annette Funicello. Paul Anka hit the Italian market with Summer's Gone in 1960. It was released as Dove Sei. The record got immediate success, reaching #4 on Italian hit lists. His top hit was Ogni giorno which scored #1 in 1962, followed by Piangerò per te and Ogni volta, which reached both #2, in 1963 and 1964. Ogni volta (Every Time) was sung by Anka during the Festival di Sanremo of 1964 and then sold more than one million copies in Italy alone. Anka's talent also included the theme for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, which was reworked in 1962 from a song Anka wrote earlier. Anka composed Tom Jones's biggest hit record, She's a Lady (1971), and wrote the English lyrics to Frank Sinatra's signature song My Way (1969). It was originally the French song Comme d'habitude, and My Way has been covered by many including Elvis Presley. In the 1960s Anka began acting in motion pictures as well as writing songs for them, most notably the theme for the hit film The Longest Day (Ken Annakin a.o., 1962). For his film work, he wrote and recorded one of his greatest hits, Lonely Boy (1959). Like most North American recording artists, he saw his career stalled by the British Invasion. By the late 1960s, his career focused on adult contemporary and big-band standards, played regularly in Las Vegas. After more than ten years without a top 25 hit record, Paul Anka teamed up in 1974 with Odia Coates to record the #1 hit, (You're) Having My Baby. The two would record two more duets that made it into the Top 10, One Man Woman/One Woman Man (#7) and I Don't Like to Sleep Alone (#8). In 1983, he co-wrote the song I Never Heard with Michael Jackson. It was retitled and released in 2009 under the name This Is It. An additional song that Jackson co-wrote with Anka from this 1983 session, Love Never Felt So Good, was since discovered and was released on Jackson's posthumous album Xscape in 2014. The song was also released by Johnny Mathis in 1984. Paul Anka became a naturalized US citizen in 1990. Anka was married to Anne de Zogheb, the daughter of a Lebanese diplomat, Charles de Zogheb, from 1963, until 2001. They have five daughters. In 2008, Anka married his personal trainer, Anna Åberg, in Sardinia. They divorced in 2010 and share custody of their son, Ethan. An autobiography, My Way (cowritten with David Dalton), was published in 2013. Source: Wikipedia and Encyclopaedia Britannica.