Enzo Stuarti, at 86; tenor on Broadway

MIDLAND, Texas -- Enzo Stuarti, an Italian tenor whose career included performances on Broadway and at Carnegie Hall, died Friday of congestive heart failure. He was 86.

Larry Stuart said his father appeared in more than a dozen Broadway productions, including ''Around the World in 80 Days," ''South Pacific," and ''Kiss Me Kate." He performed under the names Larry Lawrence and Larry Stuart before taking the name Enzo Stuarti, his son said.

He was a frequent guest on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Mike Douglas show, and on ''The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

Mr. Stuarti also appeared in commercials for Ragu spaghetti, delivering the ''That's a nice" line about the sauce.

Mr. Stuarti's albums, which covered everything from pop to opera, included ''Enzo Stuarti Arrives at Carnegie Hall" and ''Bravo Stuarti! Soft and Sentimental."

Mr. Stuarti was born in Rome. He moved to the United States in 1934, joining his family who had already moved to Newark. After serving in the merchant marine, Mr. Stuarti returned to Italy for several years, his family said.

He came back to the United States in 1951 and appeared on Broadway. He later appeared in concerts with symphony orchestras and in clubs in New York and Las Vegas.

His other passion was race cars. Mr. Stuarti once test-drove cars for the Ferrari Racing Cars in the 1940s in Italy, and owned more than 750 cars, the family said.