New Orleans native Charles Anthony Caruso (he did not use his last name on stage), who sang in 2,928 performances of the Metropolitan Opera in a career of over six decades as a tenor (including a role at 80) in mostly minor roles,
died Wednesday at his home in Tampa, Florida, of kidney failure at 82. His career included over one hundred parts in various operas, mostly minor but one as Rodolfo in Puccini's "La boheme" in 1959. To prevent comparisions with another tenor with the same surname, he dropped his surname in performance. He is survived by his wife Eleanor, a sister, three children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
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