Profile of Sonny Bono on Famous Like Me

Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono (February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American record producer, singer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades.

Bono began his music career working for the legendary record producer Phil Spector in the early 1960s. Later in the same decade, he achieved commercial success, along with his then-wife Cher, as part of the singing duo Sonny and Cher.

Bono wrote, arranged and produced a number of hit records with singles like "I Got You, Babe" and "The Beat Goes On" though few people knew he did more than sing. Cher got a lot more attention as a musical talent.

Sonny and Cher starred in a popular television variety show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, which ran on CBS from 1971 to 1974. But there again, Cher seemed lively and funny, and Sonny a bit slow.

They had a daughter, Chastity Bono, and divorced in 1975. Sonny continued his acting career, doing bit roles in such shows as Fantasy Island and The Love Boat. He played the part of a mad bomber in Airplane II: The Sequel. Bono married Susie Coelho and divorced her in 1984; he married again in 1986 to the much younger, former Mary Whitaker. He became a Scientologist, but he claimed to still be Roman Catholic on all official documents, campaign materials, websites, etc, perhaps because of the negative connotations of Scientology or because he believed in both religions. The couple had two children, Chesare Elan Bono and Chianna Marie Bono.

Bono entered politics after experiencing great frustration with local government bureaucracy in trying to open a restaurant in Palm Springs, California. With local conservative talk radio host Marshall Gilbert as his campaign manager (and later as the godfather of his two children by his wife, Mary), Bono placed a successful bid to become the new mayor of Palm Springs. He was instrumental in making the city more business-friendly and in spearheading the creation of the Nortel Palm Springs International Film Festival, now held each year in Bono's memory. After unsuccessfully running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 1992, Bono was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1994 to represent the 44th Congressional District of California. He introduced the controversial Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act during his tenure to benefit the music industry and also championed the restoration of the Salton Sea, bringing the giant lake's plight to national attention. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich made a public appearance and speech at the shore of the lake on Bono's behalf.

He died of injuries from hitting a tree while skiing at the Heavenly Ski Resort near South Lake Tahoe, California, at the age of 62. (The accident came just days after Michael Kennedy died in a skiing accident on December 31, 1997, in Colorado.) His widow, Mary Whitaker Bono, was elected to fill his unexpired Congressional term, and she has since been re-elected as a moderate Republican in 1998 and later elections in her own right. She continues to champion many of her late husband's causes, including the ongoing fight as how to best save the Salton Sea.

A surprisingly distraught Cher gave a tearful eulogy at Bono's funeral, after which the attendees sang the song "The Beat Goes On." His final resting place is Desert Memorial Park in nearby Cathedral City, California, the same cemetery in which Frank Sinatra was laid to rest later that same year. The epitaph on Bono's headstone reads: "And The Beat Goes On", and the song "Never Ever" is dedicated to him.

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