[1] He grew up on a vegetable farm and graduated from Roger Ludlowe High School in Fairfield in 1941.

[1][citation needed] After returning from the war, he was working at his brother's filling station in Easton, Connecticut, when Mario Pagano, a maestro de Canto at the American Theatre Wing Professional School heard from one of Ventriglia's coworkers about his singing talent.

Ventriglia worked as an inspector at Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, Connecticut, and sang in local concerts.

After Pagano's death, Ventriglia and his wife Jean boarded the ocean liner SS Constitution for Italy.

[clarification needed] On board, after singing Ol' Man River for a group in first class, he met a businessman who asked him to contact Toti Dal Monte, a great coloratura soprano who also taught voice in Rome.