Who is Susan Crow?
Susan Crow Benedetto is a former teacher, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, who rose to popularity after her marriage to 40-year-old senior Tony Bennett, the famous singer. She was born under the constellation Virgo on September 9, 1966 in San Francisco, California, USA; as of 2022, Susan is 55 years old and holds American nationality.
Early life and family
She was born an only child to parents Dayl, a former insurance agent, and her mother Marion Crow, a housewife. From an early age she aspired to become a teacher and work with children. While attending high school, she took singing and acting lessons and played sports, especially tennis. She reportedly emerged as one of the top students in her class.
After taking her matriculation exam in 1984, Susan enrolled at Fordham University and graduated in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in arts. She then continued her education at Columbia University’s Teachers College and received her master’s degree in 1990.
Career
Susan has worked as a social studies teacher for most of her adult life. After meeting Tony, she expressed an interest in philanthropy, and in 1999 they co-founded the non-organization Exploring The Arts (ETA), which aims to educate young people through carefully selected arts programs. The organization has built more than 17 schools in the US and helped many students by transforming their lives through the arts. Susan is chairman of the board and their joint humanitarian efforts were awarded the George Washington University Medal in 2010.
In addition to her extensive work in philanthropy, she also served as the CEO of her New York City-based agency Creative Artists Management, which helps new and established artists reach their full potential.
How did Susan and Tony meet?
Before meeting Susan, Tony had already walked down the aisle twice: He married the non-celebrity Patricia Beech in 1952 and divorced her in 1971. In the same year, he married the actress Sandra Grant.
Susan and Tony met in the late ’80s after Lady Gaga, their mutual friend, introduced them backstage at one of his concerts. In his autobiography “Just Getting Started,” Tony says revealed“I not only agreed to say hello to her backstage, but asked her to be my date for the evening.” So that’s actually how it all started.’
Interestingly, Susan admired Tony growing up and was a huge fan of his music, just like her mother, Marion. They reportedly looked at each other after meeting, completely in love, and started a secret relationship not long after.
After dating for almost 20 years, while married to Sandra Grant Bennett throughout their relationship. After divorcing Sandra, Tony and Susan walked down the aisle in 2007 at a small private ceremony with two guests, former New York governor Mario Cuomo and his wife.
Later, Tony explained that he and his ex-wife, Sandra, had separated in 1979 but never took the time to file for divorce, even though they were clearly not together and not on good terms . Talking to a media outlet, Susan said“My side was supposed to file, but we didn’t, and it went on and on.”
Susan and Tony have no children, but she is a somewhat mature stepmother of four children from Tony’s marriages to Patricia Beech and Sandra Grant.
Physical statistics and hobbies
Susan is 1.75 meters tall long (170 cm) and weighs about 61 kg. Her hair is blonde, further decorated with brown eyes.
She spends most of her time attending charity events and doing charity work. In addition to the organization she and Tony founded, Susan has collaborated with numerous other causes, such as educating underprivileged children and war veterans, raising money, creating programs, and raising awareness.
Susan loves to travel and has visited many countries with her husband, touring the US and Europe. She has been to Paris in France and Venice in Italy.
Since she is trained in singing and vocal techniques, she loves to sing but believes that her voice is not that good and absolutely cannot be compared to her husband’s talent.
Susan also likes to watch series and movies; her favorite actors are Will Smith and Emma Watson while she lists ‘Seven Pound’, ‘I am Legend’ and the ‘Harry Potter’ movie series as her favourites. In addition, Susan is a fan of comedy series – her favorite is “The Third Rock from the Sun”.
What is her net worth?
Considering that she is retired from her job as a teacher, it is difficult to estimate her net worth that she has acquired during her career, but on the other hand, her husband’s wealth is in the $200 million range, which he has earned during his career as a singer.
It seems that Susan is not active on social platforms and does not use Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. On the other hand, Tony is quite popular on Instagram, what shows off more than 350,000 followers.
Briefly about Tony Bennett
Born on August 3, 1926 in Queens, New York City, USA, New York native Anthony Dominick Benedetto is one of the most recognized singers in the world, having gathered a huge fan base throughout his career. career spanning over seven decades, it received critical acclaim and seven Grammy Awards. From a humble background, he developed an interest in music at an early age, which also served as an escape from reality, and struggled with poverty.
In his early teens, he started earning money by singing in bars and restaurants and selling his drawings, as he also had a talent for art.
He attended the School of Industrial Art in New York, where he studied music and painting, but had to drop out to support his family financially.
In 1944 he joined the United States Army in the final stages of World War II as an infantry gunner. Tony fought in France before advancing to Germany. Fighting on the front lines, witnessing deaths and escaping them himself several times turned him into a pacifist and changed his view of the world.
After his discharge from the army in 1946, he enrolled in the American Theater Wing, which supports theater education. Three years later, he found himself opening the show for the actress and singer Pearl Bailey in Greenwich Village where he met Bob Hope, the famous singer and comedian. Bob invited him to tour with him, and in no time he landed his first recording contract with Columbia Records.
When he entered the music industry, he did not struggle to achieve success as he hit gold with his debut single “Because of You”. Topping the charts, the single became a major hit, followed by its two other songs, “Blue Velvet and “Rags to Riches”, receiving positive reviews.
Soon he was invited to record the song “Stranger in Paradise”, in collaboration with the producers of the musical “Kismet”. The single is regarded as one of his biggest successes as it gained popularity in the US and UK. Tony released his debut album “Cloud 7” in 1955, to moderate success. However, the next album, “The Beat of My Heart” brought him fame and he emerged as a name synonymous with commercial pop tunes.
He continued to build his profile, as his track “I Left my Heart in San Francisco” earned him two Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Male Solo Vocal Performance. In the early 1970s, however, his struggle to record a hit became more apparent as the arrival of rock bands such as ‘The Beatles’ severely hampered his success. Struggling to stay in the music business, Tony found solace in drugs, nearly losing his life, when he overdosed on cocaine in 1979.
He has recorded more than 70 albums during his career – “MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett” and “Duets: An American Classic” went platinum and sold over a million copies worldwide.
In addition to his prolific career as a singer, he has also dipped his toes in other avenues as a painter and writer; Tony has written five books and his paintings have been exhibited in galleries around the world. In addition, he has received several recognitions and holds several Guinness Records.
Although he revealed in 2016 that he has Alzheimer’s disease, Tony at 95 is still active and often teams up with Lady Gaga; in 2021 Tony released the collaborative album ‘Love for Scale’.