In 1962, RCA Victor signed him to a seven-year contract and in October of that year Franchi appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and performed at Carnegie Hall.

Franchi performed musical comedies on stage, appeared on numerous television variety shows, and starred in a major motion picture.

For his longtime support of Boys' and Girls' Towns of Italy, he was posthumously awarded the title of cavaliere in the Order of Merit (Stella al merito del lavoro) by the Italian Government.

[1] Young Franchi formed a three-piece band at age sixteen to earn pocket money, and then later sang with a male vocal group in local jazz clubs.

[7] The senior Galli had been a successful businessman who owned several shops, but lost all of his assets during World War II and the German occupation.

Hearing him sing, one of the principals of the Johannesburg Operatic and Dramatic Society (JODS) tracked him down and offered him the leading role in The Gypsy Baron.

Franchi's debut was well-received, and was soon followed by leading roles in Pink Champagne (Die Fledermaus in English)(1953), The New Moon (1954), and The Vagabond King (1955).

[10] Johannesburg's once-thriving local opera season had collapsed after WWII, and it was not possible at this time to earn a full-time wage as a singer.

[11][12] Alessandro Rota, a successful operatic tenor in the Southern Hemisphere, came from Cape Town to Johannesburg in 1955 and helped form The National Opera Association.

[3] The company quickly matured and Rota placed Franchi in leading tenor roles in at least two successful full opera productions - Puccini's Madama Butterfly in 1957, and then Verdi's La traviata in 1959.

"[19] An album of Italian songs and several EPs and singles in Italy, London, and Canada followed (these recordings were eventually released for American audiences.)

[28] RCA Victor had begun a heavy promotional campaign to launch his American career, concurrent with the release of his debut album.

Singing the full length of the concert without a microphone, a New York reviewer commented on Franchi's "big, healthy voice", his penchant for ad-libbing, and his ability to establish instant rapport with his audience.

[34] His debut album, Romantic Italian Songs continued on the Billboard 200;[44] He completed the year as the opening act for Juliet Prowse at the Cocoanut Grove.

[47][48][49][50][51] Franchi made a noteworthy appearance at the "35th Annual Chicagoland Music Festival" in August 1964,[52] as well as starring in a performance at the Cocoanut Grove, as well as doing other events.

Meredith Willson brought Franchi to the attention of Richard Rodgers when he was casting the leading role of the romantic Venetian shopkeeper, Renato Di Rossi, for the musical "Do I Hear a Waltz".

[83] As the recording industry increasingly came to be dominated by the tastes of a younger generation, Franchi and many his contemporaries found their most popular reception in supper clubs.

With the collapse of the musical comedy genre in movies, and the dominance of the younger generation in the recording industry—Las Vegas became a prime vacation destination for entertainment, and the place to catch live performances of stars.,[85] and Franchi was no exception to this.

[103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][excessive citations] During this period, Franchi became estranged from his wife Yvonne, and (with their children now grown) he moved back to his Manhattan apartment.

Contemplating some slowdown towards a future retirement and wishing to draw his extended family closer, Franchi purchased a 240-acre estate in Stonington in September 1979.

[3] Despite his age, reviews from this time generally regarded him as being in good physical and vocal form[116] He continued a series of successful concerts, benefits, and tours.

[144] During his dual-billing cabaret show with Barbra Streisand at the Eden Roc Hotel, they were both recruited for the American Cancer Society Benefit (MC, Bob Hope) at the Paramount Theater in Palm Beach, Florida on March 17, 1963.

[145][146] In 1965, Franchi (with Itzhak Perlman, Richard Tucker and Vivienne della Chiesa) performed at Madison Square Garden—raising $150,000 for the annual "Music Under the Stars" benefiting the American-Israeli Cultural Foundation.

[149] One of Franchi's largest fund-raising benefit was a political event in 1982, where he helped raise over $600,000 during a three-day concert tour of Massachusetts on behalf of the re-election campaign of Governor King.

[151] Franchi was a longtime supporter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and performed frequently on the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.

When in 1988 he was asked about his upcoming performance at Ninigret Park to benefit the Rhode Island chapter of the MDA, Franchi stated: "When you've been as fortunate as I have, you have to do something for other people."

[152] While visiting back in Italy, he was recruited to perform what was possibly his first Boys' Towns Benefit Concert at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, on May 4, 1963, of which many more followed.

[154] As part of the 1970 celebrations of the Silver Jubilee of Boys' Towns of Italy, Franchi performed in benefits at New York's Philharmonic Hall,[155] and at New Orleans' Municipal Auditorium.

[164]) The Greater New Orleans Cultural Society honored Franchi with a special banquet (held March 12, 1982) and presented him with the 16th Annual Italian American of the Year Award.

[165] Franchi also received the Il Leone di San Marco Award in the Performing Arts (1984) from The Italian Heritage and Culture Committee of the Bronx and Westchester in New York.