Franco Cozzo
Born(1935-10-02)2 October 1935
Ramacca, Italy
Died20 December 2023(2023-12-20) (aged 88)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
OccupationBusinessman
SpouseAssunta[1]
Children10[1]

Franco Cozzo (2 October 1935 – 20 December 2023) was an Australian businessman. Moving to Melbourne in 1955, Cozzo was best known for his television advertisements where he would speak in a variety of languages, such as: English, Greek, and Italian. However, he was mostly known for producing Australia's first non-English TV show, Carosello, which was broadcast in Italian.[2]

Although tastes in furniture changed, Cozzo remained a cultural icon.[3] For over 50 years, he was widely regarded as one of the most visible proponents of multiculturalism in Victoria.

Biography

Cozzo grew up with his family in Sicily, where his father was a horse trader. When Cozzo was 12, his young sister died of a heart attack.[4]

After migrating to Australia in January 1956, Cozzo initially worked as a door-to-door salesman. Owing to a limited knowledge of English, he learnt to identify the homes of Italians, Greeks, and other ethnic groups that were migrating to Australia thanks to the post-war relaxation of the White Australia policy, which restricted immigration to prevent most ethnic groups from outside the British isles from coming to the country.

Cozzo focused on a new, growing segment of the market which produced little competition for him. In the beginning of his career, Cozzo sold many of his assets, not only the baroque furniture he was largely associated with. His first shop in North Melbourne also sold whitegoods and for a brief time, he also had a Fiat dealership.[4]

In the late 1960s, Cozzo produced a TV show featuring local Italian-Australian musical acts on Channel 0, largely as an advertising space for his furniture business. This was the first Australian TV show that was not broadcast in English, pre-dating ethnic broadcasting on the government's Special Broadcasting Service by more than a decade. Around this time, he also purchased what would become his flagship store in Footscray.[5]

By 1981, Cozzo's distinctive advertising of his Footscray store had raised the suburb's profile so much that the local council awarded him a plaque to recognise his contribution to the local community.

Cozzo divorced his first wife during the 1980s, before remarrying and expanding his family by bearing more children with his second wife.[4]

Cozzo's son, Luigi, was jailed in 1992 for drug trafficking, alleged to have imported drugs by hiding them in his father's furniture shipments.[6]

Cozzo died on 20 December 2023, at the age of 87.[7]

Cultural impact

Cozzo was a cultural icon in his adoptive home of Melbourne, and especially the suburb of Footscray, which he distinctively pronounces Footisgray in his TV ads. His distinctive Italian accent and trilingual ads set him apart from everything else on the Anglo-Australian television stations, and he was one of the most prominent ethnic TV personalities [8] prior to the launch of the government-funded Special Broadcasting Service.

Norda Melbin E Footisgray by Tony Cursio is a stereotypically Italian tune with lyrics that are based on Cozzo's television advertisements.[9] Recorded during his heights in the 1980s, the song highlighted the strength of Cozzo's brand, and even featured a special introduction recorded by the man himself.

The Argotiers' 2020 song, I Wanna Die in a Franco Cozzo Bed was another song by a Melbourne artist that references the furniture magnate, or more specifically his wares. The song paints the picture of a bedroom furnished in the baroque style that made Cozzo millions with the song video filmed partly in the Brunswick store.

Cozzo was the subject of Palazzo di Cozzo, a biographical documentary film that examined his life and used his experiences as an Italian-Australian businessman from the 1950s to 2020s as a lens to view the changing acceptance of postwar southern European migrants to Australia which debuted at the 2021 Melbourne International Film Festival.

References

  1. 1 2 Abbott, Lachlan (20 December 2023). "Iconic Melbourne furniture salesman Franco Cozzo dies". The Age. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  2. ↑ Robin, Jo. "Megalo, Megalo, Megalo! Melbourne Icon Franco Cozzo Is Getting His Own Film". Broadsheet. Broadsheet. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  3. ↑ Bowen, Daniel (12 January 2011). "Franco Cozzo". danielbowen.com.au. Daniel Bowen. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Martiniello, Madeleine (2021). Palazzo di Cozzo. Sharmill Films.
  5. ↑ Ballantyne, Adrian. "Franco Cozzo sells iconic Footscray store in ultimate 'grand sale'". realcommercial.com.au. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  6. ↑ 'Self-indulgent' cocaine dealer jailed for 4 years. Canberra: The Canberra Times. 18 January 1992. p. 16.
  7. ↑ Tuffield, Rhiannon (20 December 2023). "Melbourne's 'king of furniture' Franco Cozzo has died at the age of 87". Nine News. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  8. ↑ Angelucci, Margherita; Egan, Laura. ""Where? In Brunswick and Foot-a-scray!" Franco Cozzo to star in documentary". Il Globo News. Il Globo News. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  9. ↑ "Franco Cozzo". OnlyMelbourne. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
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