Frankie Valli's 6 Children: Everything to Know

Frankie Valli is one of the most beloved singers of the last century and a dad of six.

He first became a father in 1957 when he married his first wife, Mary Mandel, who had a daughter named Celia from a previous relationship. The couple had two more daughters, Antonia and Francine, before they divorced in 1971. After an eight-year marriage to Mary Ann Hannigan, he went on to marry his third wife, Randy Clohessy, in 1984. Frankie and Clohessy had three sons together — Francesco and twins Emilio and Brando — before separating in 2004.

Although the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons frontman had changes in his love life, “It’s unconditional love with your kids,” he told PEOPLE in 2008, adding that he spoke to his kids every day no matter where he was.

"He's actually a really big jokester,” Frankie’s granddaughter Olivia told PEOPLE in 2022. “He loves to be goofy and loves to just make people laugh. ... It was just laughing all the time and telling stories, how to make good sauce, things like that."

Here is everything to know about Frankie Valli’s six children: Celia, Antonia, Francine, Francesco, Emilio and Brando.

Celia Sabin Valli

Celia Sabin Valli was born in 1954 to Mary Mandel and her ex-husband, and Frankie became stepfather to Celia after he married Mandel in 1957.

Celia died in February 1980 during an accident. Jersey Boys writer Rick Elice told Vegas Seven that he didn’t include her death in the musical because “if you put that in the show, no one would believe it. It would be too horrible and seem like it was fiction.”

In 2013, Frankie told Billboard that losing a child was “not something you ever, ever get over. It’s just not supposed to be that way.”

Antonia Valli

Frankie and Mandel’s first daughter together was Antonia “Toni” Valli. Toni grew up in New Jersey and married Gerry Polci of her father’s band, the Four Seasons, in 1987.

"I first saw him when I was 15,” Toni told the New York Times in 1995. “I fell in love with him the first time I ever saw him. My father had been raving about him as a drummer — the best he had ever heard, he said — but when he saw how I felt about Gerry, my father said I wasn't going to marry any musician." Frankie eventually came around, and Toni and Polci had two children: Olivia, born in 1993, and Dario, born in 1994. The pair have since divorced.

Olivia is following in her grandfather’s footsteps by pursuing a career as a performer. She portrayed her grandmother Mary in the 2019 off-Broadway production of Jersey Boys and traveled with the 2022 national tour of Pretty Woman.

"My first memory ever — the big memory — he was at an outdoor concert venue in Jersey. I think it was PNC [Bank Arts Center], and I was just bopping along," Olivia told PEOPLE in 2022.

She added: "I was like, 'Wow, my grandfather, he's a really good singer. This is so cool.' Then I turn around, and I just see this wave of people because we were relatively close to the front. And I was like, 'Oh, he's a really big deal. Oh my God.’ ... And I turned to my mom, and I go, 'Mom, is Grandpa famous?' And she was like, 'Yes.' "

Frankie told PEOPLE that he was “thrilled” and “couldn’t believe it” when Olivia told him she’d be playing a role in the musical about his life.

"It just really felt like this was the best way to honor our lineage and the fact that we do have this voice that runs through our family,” Olivia said. “We love what we do so much, so this is me making a stamp in our family as well."

In April 2023, Frankie’s hometown of Newark, New Jersey dedicated a street to the singer in the neighborhood where he grew up. "I think this is amazing and spectacular and deserved," Toni said at the dedication, per ABC 7 NY.

Francine Valli

Francine Valli was the second daughter born to Frankie and Mandel. She was born in Newark in 1960 and attended Bloomfield High School. Just six months after her sister Celia died, Francine died of an accidental drug overdose on Aug. 16, 1980. She was 20 years old.

Francine was known to have inherited her father’s musical talents — she had recorded songs and was set to embark on a music career of her own. She had also been scheduled to go on tour with her father.

Francine’s death is dramatized in Jersey Boys during a scene where Frankie gets a call about his daughter.

“The first time I saw that, it was incredibly difficult, and for many times after that,” Frankie told PEOPLE. “That lives with you forever. She died a long time ago, but I often imagine what it would be like if she were alive. She had a wonderful voice.”

Jersey Boys writer Elice was at the theater the first time Frankie saw the show and told the Chicago Tribune, “What most affected me was watching a man watching the death of his own child on stage. I saw him cry. When the show was over, they were wiped out. It took hours and several drinks before they came down from their emotion."

Francesco Valli Jr.

During Frankie’s marriage to his third wife, Randy Clohessy, they had three sons. Their first son, Francesco Valli Jr., was born in 1988. He’s an actor who has appeared on Full House and in movies like The House Bunny and Reach Me.

Frankie Sr. and Clohessy separated in 2004 and had a contentious divorce that ended up in front of the California Supreme Court over community property.

“This was a tough breakup because of the boys,” Frankie’s friend Stewie Stone told PEOPLE in 2008. At the time, Francesco was a 20-year-old college student. “He doesn’t get them as often as he’d like. It’s tough when you have kids and they’re not in the house anymore. You don’t hear that noise.”

Emilio and Brando Valli

Twins Emilio and Brando Valli were born in Calabasas, California, in 1995 to Frankie and Clohessy. They spent a lot of their younger years on the road with their famous dad.

​​“It’s very helpful for their social skills — lots of kids gravitate to them,” Frankie told PEOPLE in 2008.

They’re also musical, having learned guitar and drums when they were young. Frankie added that one of the most important things to him was that his kids felt free to “express themselves” with him.

“He’s a great father,” added original Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio. “He loves kids and gets right into their world with them. It’s fun to watch.”

Brando has followed in his dad’s musical footsteps, releasing singles like “Imagine” and “Numb With U.”

Emilio studied at New York University’s high school film program and the Los Angeles Film School and worked on productions like Ray Donovan and Agent Carter. Today, Emilio is a realtor in Malibu, California.

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