Rags to Riches (song) recordings by Sunny & the Sunliners (#45 in 1963) and Elvis Presley (#33 in 1971) also made the Billboard charts. Tony Bennett's version was used at the beginning of the film "Goodfellas", just after Henry Hill closes the trunk of the car and says in voice-over, "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster." The song was also used in an episode of "Columbo". The opening line of the song was sung regularly and exuberantly by the character Carmine Ragusa on the television series "Laverne & Shirley", typically when he had good news. "Rags
Tony Bennett they failed to sell. In 1949, Pearl Bailey recognized Benedetto's talent and asked him to open for her in Greenwich Village. She had invited Bob Hope to the show. Hope decided to take Benedetto on the road with him, and simplified his name to Tony Bennett. In 1950, Bennett cut a demo of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and was signed to the major Columbia Records label by Mitch Miller. Warned by Miller not to imitate Frank Sinatra (who was just then leaving Columbia), Bennett began his career as a crooner of commercial pop tunes. His first big hit was "Because