Biographie

He began with small but funny performances in the streets using the name Ciccio Ferraù. In 1955 he and Ciccio Ingrassia formed a team and acted in low-class stage shows until they were discovered by film director Mario Mattoli, who gave them two bit parts in Je cherche une maman (1960) alongside singer/actor Domenico Modugno. Modugno took them to important stage performances in the musical comedy "Rinaldo in campo". Franchi and Ingrassia's specialty were low-budget, quickly shot films: 12 were made in one year, and one over a span of four Sundays.

Father of Massimo Franchi.

Formed a memorable comedy duo with Ciccio Ingrassia, with whom he starred in more than 100 movies in the 1960s and 1970s.

In the film Due Marines e un Generale (1966), he worked with Buster Keaton and Ciccio Ingrassia.

He began his career in the 1950s, although his career only really took off in the 1960s. He starred in many comedies, mainly appearing together with Ciccio Ingrassia as the comedy duo Franco and Ciccio, but also in more dramatic material such as Luigi Comencini's Adventures of Pinocchio (1972), in which they paired memorably as the Fox and the Cat.