Singer Frankie Laine dead at 93

LOS ANGELES, Feb 7 (Reuters) Frankie Laine, the full-voiced singer who became one of the most popular entertainers of the 1950s with such hits as ''I Believe,'' ''Jezebel'' and the theme to the TV Western ''Rawhide,'' has died at 93.

Laine, one of the last of a generation of great Italian-American singers whose peers included Frank Sinatra and Perry Como, died of a heart attack after hip-replacement surgery at the Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, said his longtime producer, Jimmy Marino yesterday.

Laine had otherwise been in good health in recent years, and his last public performance was at the age of 92, singing the first big hit of his career, ''That's My Desire,'' on a public television special, Marino told Reuters.

During a career spanning four decades, Laine tallied 21 gold records and dozens of songs on the singles charts in the United States and abroad, selling roughly 250 million albums.

But he is perhaps best remembered by a younger generation of fans for his recordings of the theme to the hit television Western ''Rawhide'' and the theme to Mel Brooks' 1974 big-screen western spoof ''Blazing Saddles.'' REUTERS RL KP0945