Mark Dinning born 17 August 1933

 

Max Edward Dinning (August 17, 1933 — March 22, 1986) was an American pop music singer. In December 1959, the song "Teen Angel", written by his sister and brother-in-law, Jean and Red Surrey reached No. 1 on the Billboard Charts. Jean and two of her sisters, Virginia and Lucille, comprised the "The Dinning Sisters" , a popular singing trio in the 1940s.  
 

Max Edward Dinning was born in Manchester, Oklahoma, the youngest of nine children, and was raised on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee after his family relocated from Kansas. Dinning took up the electric guitar at the age of 17. He followed his sisters and pursued a career in country music and, in 1957, record producer Wesley Rose signed him a recording contract as Mark Dinning. 
 

For three years, he was an unsuccessful recording artist, trying to cultivate a country career with such songs as "Ramblin' Man," "The Streets of Laredo," and "I'm Just a Country Boy." Then his sister Jean and her husband Red Surrey gave him a song they had written, called "Teen Angel".
 

The lyrics, which told of the death of a teenage girl, were deemed by British radio stations to be too morbid to be aired, but it reached #37 on the UK Singles Chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.
 

Dinning had an addiction to alcohol that eventually ended his career. His repeated appearance at performances too intoxicated to perform caused promoters to stop booking him and he faded from public view. Although Dinning never duplicated the success of "Teen Angel", he had three minor hit records in the ensuing years.
 

 

 

 

Mark Dinning continued performing until his unexpected death at the age of fifty-two. After appearing in a club in Jefferson City, Missouri, on March 21, 1986, Mark had a heart attack while driving home in his car. (Info mainly Wikipedia)