e was born in the city of 9 de Julio, province of Buenos Aires. At age twelve he settled in the Federal Capital, in the neighborhood of La Boca.

His secondary school studies were made at the Salesian schools León XIII and San Carlos and was specialized in graphic arts. As an adult, he was teacher of typography and technology of the graphic arts in the Escuelas de Educación Técnica Nº 31 and 15, an activity he carried out until he retired.

Music attracted his attention from a very early age. He was still a kid when he sang in family parties, at some neighborhood club and at any kind of rendezvous. Due to his vocation, he began to study singing with a teacher, but by chance he came to know Miguel Montero who gave him some pieces of advice and suggested for him another teacher.

Now with more confidence and backed by a quartet, in 1953, he made tours of towns and cities of the western area of the province. When he was regarded as a professional, he started his show business career. He was on Radio del Pueblo for a short tenure, backed up by a guitar group. Even though his schedule was not quite suitable, he did not shy away. He had a brief tenure in the Ricardo Pedevilla orchestra and appeared at the Confitería Nobel, on Lavalle and Suipacha, where he appeared along with the singers Carlos Barbé and Héctor Coral.

Once again, backed by guitars, he appeared on Radio Libertad. His name, little by little, was becoming known in the tango milieu. He was summoned by Rodolfo Biagi who hired him for his appearances at the Chantecler. His vocal partner was, no less than Hugo Duval, the emblematic voice of the Biagi’s (Manos Brujas) orchestra.

In 1957 he joined the Juan Sánchez Gorio orchestra, together with another peer, Raúl Ledesma, to substitute for Luis Mendoza and Osvaldo Bazán. Undoubtedly, that was his most outstanding stage. With that ensemble he sang on Radio El Mundo –still the most important radio station-, made tours and recorded several songs for CBS Columbia. Among them, the following stand out: “Pa’ que sientas lo que siento”, “Frente al espejo”, “Puede ser que no te rías”, “Corazón cobarde”, “Ayúdame, Dios mío”, “Norma”, “Siete mujeres”, “Si yo fuera millonario” and others.

Even though all these recordings had great acclaim, and still now they are being reissued, one stands out most: “Pa’ que sientas lo que siento”, a Mexican ranchera mejicana in tango beat, which resulted in one of the biggest sales in the history of the company, and stayed first for many months among the Hundred Hits in national and foreign music.

Soon thereafter Ledesma joined Miguel Caló and he was replaced by Roberto Mancini. At the carnival balls of 1958 he appeared at the Club Victoria of the province of Buenos Aires, along with Osvaldo Bazán, who had returned to the orchestra, and Alberto Aguirre, recently included.

Throughout that year, they appeared at the cabaret El Avión, of La Boca, where the orchestra fronted by Sánchez Gorio was a boom. For Fontana, those were five years of hard work. At the same time, authorized by the leader, he devoted to dubbing into Spanish tens of actors in movie and television series. His sonorous voice and versatility for acting allowed him to devote for several years to that activity, even as actor in some successful seasons.

For example, when he was summoned by David Stivel to appear in the successful program on Channel 13 Yo soy porteño, which included Pepe Soriano, Julio De Grazia, Marilina Ross, Selva Alemán, Beto Gianola, replacing Jorge Sobral. His work as dubbing actor continued for forty years, impersonating different personalities of world cinema.

With the group headed by Dante Smurra he recorded the milonga “Bragado”, with music by the leader co-written with Ricardo Malerba and lyrics by Enrique Maroni, and “Condena”, by Francisco Pracánico with lyrics by Enrique Santos Discépolo, published in a LP of the El Farolito label.

He wrote tango and folk music lyrics, which were included in the songbooks of many popular artists. In 1976, with “Zamba para olvidarte” he was winner at the Festival de Cosquín (the most important festival in the genre which has been held at that city of the province of Córdoba, every year since 1961). He collaborated in the latter and other songs with the singer Daniel Toro, and with Ángel Cabral, the author of the hit “Que nadie sepa mi sufrir”.

Furthermore, he wrote lyrics to the chacarera “A los maestros rurales” by Cuti and Roberto Carabajal. With music by Mauricio Marcelli he wrote “Después de medianoche”, “El otoño y tú” and “Equivocados”. With Miguel Montero, “Qué diablos pasa”. With Mariano Mores, “Los clavos de mi cruz”. With Pascual Otero, “Porque ella vive aquí”. With Carlos Bergesio, the milongón “Cantá y cantá”. With Leopoldo Federico, two beautiful zambas: “Zamba de la extranjera” and “Cuando te pienso en zamba”.

He was always recognized for his powerful voice and the controled dramatic style of his interpretations. He was an active member in SADAIC, and occupied various positions. In 2010 the Honorable Concejo Deliberante of his home town, 9 de Julio, honored him because of his cultural work and his extensive career.