Virta was born on 27 February 1915 in
Sysmä,
Grand Duchy of Finland. Between 1939 and 1966 he recorded almost 600 songs, many of which are classics of Finnish popular music, and appeared in many films and theatrical productions. Of his most acclaimed
tangos are "Punatukkaiselle tytölleni" ("For My Red Haired Girl"), "Ennen kuolemaa" ("Before Death";
French:
Avant de Mourir) and "Täysikuu" ("Full Moon"), while standouts from his other popular songs are "Poika varjoisalta kujalta" ("Boy From a Shady Alley";
Italian:
Guaglione), "Hopeinen kuu" ("Silver Moon"; Italian:
Guarda Che Luna), "Eva" and "Kultainen nuoruus" ("The Golden Youth").'' He was also the second tenor of the quartet
Kipparikvartetti in the early 1950s. At the beginning of his career he received three
gold records for the songs "Ennen kuolemaa", "
Tulisuudelma" (El Choclo) and "
La Cumparsita". Virta also acted in sixteen different
Finnish films, including ones of the then-popular
Pekka Puupää series. When he began his career in 1939, he was marketed as the "
Bing Crosby of
Finland." He has also been compared to the American singer-actor
Frank Sinatra. Virta was very much popular in the 1950s in Finland. However, around 1959 is when his life began to turn in another direction. His wife Irene, whom he had three children with, left him and moved to
Sweden in that year, and he began having health issues from an ever augmenting problem with
alcoholism,
diabetes, and a
stroke. His career was cut short one night when he was arrested for drunken driving in
Ilomantsi in 1962, after which the press mockingly called him "The Singing Meatball." Ten years later he succumbed to alcoholism, living his final years in poverty. Virta died in
Pispala,
Tampere on 14 July 1972 and was buried in the
Malmi Cemetery. == Legacy ==