Engelbert Humperdinck (b. Arnold George Dorsey, May 2, 1936, Madras, India) is a well-known British-American pop singer who rose to international fame during the 1960s, after adopting the name of the famous German opera composer as his own stage name.

Changes and chart topping
As top 40 radio became less hospitable to his kind of balladry and a few Broadway influences found their way into his music, Humperdinck concentrated on selling albums and on live performances, developing lavish stage presentations that made him a natural for Las Vegas and similar venues. He wasn't entirely a stranger to hit singles, however---"After the Lovin'," a rhythmic ballad recorded for Mills's MAM Records (and released through Epic, a CBS subsidiary, in the United States), became one of the biggest hits of his career in 1976 and earned the singer a Grammy Award nomination for the album of the same name.
It was a conscious effort to update his music and his image. "I don't like to give people what they have already seen," Humperdinck was quoted as saying in a 1992 tourbook. "I take the job description of 'entertainer' very seriously! I try to bring a sparkle that people don't expect and I get the biggest kick from hearing someone say 'I had no idea you could do that!'" He also defended his fan mania, which helped him continue to sell records when radio play dried up for him. "They are very loyal to me and very militant as far as my reputation is concerned," Humperdinck had told Sherwood. "I call them the spark plugs of my success."
But he later revealed that he had little if any say in the selection of songs for his albums, a fact that had sometimes brought into question whether he was his own or his manager's or record label's pawn. As his career moved on, however, Humperdinck began gaining more creative freedom, and his albums accordingly brought several kinds of songs into his reach beyond syrupy ballads. But he kept romance at the core of his music regardless, and he's long since been tagged by fans as "the King of Romance."

Beyond the 1960s
By the 1980s, approaching his fiftieth birthday, Humperdinck continued recording albums regularly and performing as many as two hundred concerts a year---yet managed somehow to maintain a strong semblance of family life. He and his wife, Patricia, raised four children, all of whom are said to have become involved, eventually, in their father's career, even as the family alternated between homes in England and in southern California.
He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1989 and won a Golden Globe Award as entertainer of the year, while also beginning major involvement in charitable causes such as the Leukemia Research Fund, the American Red Cross, the American Lung Association, and several AIDS relief organisations. He even wrote a song for one such group, the theme anthem for the group Reach Out. "[H]e's a gentleman," longtime friend Clifford Elson has been quoted as saying of him, "in a business that's not full of many gentlemen."

1980s to present
Humperdinck—who changed his name legally to his stage name at the height of his career (though he's known in Germany and Austria merely as Engelbert; the composer's heirs had sued him over his stage name adoption)—hit the top five British album charts in 2000 with Engelbert At His Very best, and returned to the album top five four years later, after he appeared in a John Smiths advertisement.
In August 2005, Humperdinck auctioned his Harley-Davidson motorcycle on eBay to raise money for the County Air Ambulance in Leicestershire, where he spent so much of his British youth. [1]

The 21st century
Engelbert Humperdinck bought the famed Pink Palace, the former home of actress Jayne Mansfield during the 1970s. He sold the forty-room, Mediterranean-style mansion---built in 1929 but famous for Mansfield's installation of a heart shaped swimming pool and pink lighting, and sitting on over an acre of land---for a reported $4,000,000, $3,025,000 more than Mansfield had paid, to developers who tore it down to make way for other houses in 2002.
His only daughter, Louise Dorsey, made a brief foray into television during the 1980s. Most notably she appeared in an episode of Murder, She Wrote and voiced the new Misfits band member Jetta on the third and final season of Jem. She currently works for her father as a PR consultant and occasionally sings with him on stage.
Eddie Izzard has an entire section about Engelbert Humperdinck as part of his Dress to Kill routine where Izzard speculates on other possible stage names for Humperdinck including Zangelbert Bingledack, Wingelbert Humptyback, and Slut Bunwalla.
Humperdinck appeared in a Christmas commercial for the office supplies store Staples in late 2006.
Humperdinck performed the introduction music "Little Boxes" on Season 2, Episode 3 of Showtime's comedy series Weeds in 2006.
Chris LeDoux mentions Humperdinck in his song "Honky Tonk World", released in 1994. It includes the line, "Don't even think that your Engelbert Humperdinck record's gonna turn her on." Ironically, the song was covered by Humperdinck on his 2006 album "Totally Amazing".
In an episode of Arthur, "The World of Tomorrow; Is there a Doctor in the House?" Binky travels to the future and greets someone named Thruster whom he mistakes for Buster. When Thruster asks his name he replies, "and my name is Engelbert Humperdinck." to which Thruster refers to him until he travels back.
Engelbert and Jimi Hendrix were on the same package tour as the Walker Brothers and Cat Stevens in 1967 and surprisingly the two got on quite well.
James Gandolfini sings along to Humperdinck's song, "A Man Without Love", in the first dance number of John Turturro's film, Romance & Cigarettes.
Engelbert also was mentioned by school teacher Mr. Garrison in the South Park episode Starvin' Marvin from the cartoon's first series. He was said to be the first man on the moon, whilst it is actually Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin who hold that achievement.

Trivia

"Am I That Easy to Forget?"
"Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You"
"Release Me"
"The Last Waltz"
"Misty Blue"
"After the Lovin'"
"Quando, Quando, Quando"
"A Man Without Love"
"Spanish Eyes"
"This is My Song"
"There Goes My everything"
"Christmas Songs - Engelbert's rendition of Winter Wonderland"
"Les Bicyclettes de Belsize" Well-known songs
¹ #1 Adult Contemporary hit for 1 week ² #1 Adult Contemporary hit for 2 weeks

See also