Franco Ventriglia

Francesco Ventriglia was an opera singer who sang bass in every major European opera house during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. He returned to the U.S. in 1978, where he continued to perform at venues including Carnegie Hall, and traveled to perform in southeast Asia, until his retirement in 2001 at age 79.

Francesco Ventriglia was born on October 20, 1922, in Fairfield, Connecticut. He grew up on a vegetable farm and graduated from Roger Ludlowe High School in Fairfield in 1941. He enlisted in the Marine Corps, serving in the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in the South Pacific during World War II. After returning from the war, he was working at his brothers filling station in Easton, Connecticut when Mario Pagano, a maestro de Canto at the American Theatre Wing Professional School heard from one of Ventriglias coworkers about his singing talent. Ventriglia passed an audition and went on to attend the school on the G.I. Bill, crossing paths with classmate Marlon Brando, among others.

Source: Wikipedia