Renzo Cesana a.k.a. 'The Continental' is perhaps best known for playing opposite Ingrid Bergman in Rossellini's 1949 film Stromboli, but lounge music lovers will undoubtedly have run into him in the bonus tracks of many (but not all) of the Capitol Records' popular Ultra-Lounge series. These tracks, recitations of popular songs with slushy Hammond organ accompaniment are usually unlisted on the CD inlay card, and are therefore 'credited' to all kinds of cyphers such as 'Mystery Voice' and 'Bonus Track'.

Between 1952 and 1953 Renzo Cesana appeared on national network television in the USA (starting on CBS and then moving to ABC) reciting poetry and the lyrics to popular romantic ballads. This would happen twice a week just after the 11 o'clock news, and was evidently a big hit with lonely women everywhere. (Compare with Korla Pandit, another exotic TV heartthrob from the same period).

User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.