What made him successful? Was it dazzling special effects? Booty-shaking dance routines? Ear-splitting guitar riffs? No, it was the warm, relaxed manner of the man Bing Crosby dubbed “the man who invented casual.”

With his soft and inviting baritone, wearing his unassuming cardigan, Perry Como characterized popular music of the 1940s and ’50s on radio and on the upstart medium of television. His easygoing style was the perfect antidote to the chaos of the World War II years, a show so popular that it racked up 15 years of awards.