Julius La Rosa (January 2, 1930 – May 12, 2016) was an American traditional popular music singer, who worked in both radio and television beginning in the 1950s.

[2] La Rosa's Navy peers promoted him to Arthur Godfrey, one of America's leading radio and television personalities and a Naval Reserve officer himself.

[2] He had La Rosa flown to New York to appear on his television show, with Godfrey ending the spot by saying, "When Julie gets out of the Navy he'll come back to see us.

"[2] La Rosa was discharged from the Navy on a Friday in November 1951, and he went to Godfrey on the following Monday and appeared on his variety show a week later.

Godfrey's band leader Archie Bleyer formed Cadence Records in 1952, and La Rosa was the first performer with whom they signed a contract.

[1] One of Godfrey's mandates was for all cast members to attend dance classes, to make them appear more graceful on camera.

Rockwell was highly critical of Godfrey's behavior, angrily citing La Rosa's public humiliation.

Singer Ruth Wallis, known for her raunchy double entendre novelty songs, recorded "Dear Mr. Godfrey",[5] a biting satire on the matter, which made it to #25 on the Billboard charts in November 1953.

In 1981, Peter Kelley, who handled Godfrey's commercial bookings, suggested the host reunite with cast members from his morning show and record a reunion album.

In the 1980s, La Rosa received a non-contract, recurring role in the NBC soap opera Another World, playing the character Reynoldo, for which he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award as Best Supporting Actor.

[7] In 1998 and 1999, La Rosa was a disc jockey on 1430 WNSW based in Newark, New Jersey,[8] hosting Make Believe Ballroom Time.

[7] La Rosa, profiled by jazz critic and composer Gene Lees, continued to work clubs and release records until the early 2000s.

[citation needed] New York Times film critic Stephen Holden said "His singing is very direct and unpretentious – he can wrap his voice tenaciously around a melody line and bring out the best in it.

"[9] La Rosa was a frequent contributor to comedian Jerry Lewis's annual Labor Day telethon programmes for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, often hosting the New York venue of the shows.

"[11] He and his wife lived for over 40 years in Irvington, New York, until November 2015 when they moved to Crivitz, Wisconsin, where[10][12] he died of natural causes on May 12, 2016, at age 86.