A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Avelio Falana moved to New York City at the tender age of 17 to pursue a career in show business.   Perhaps it was in his genes, as his sister, Lola Falana, was on Broadway with Sammy Davis, Jr. at the time.  Avelio landed a great first job working behind the scenes with none other than Merv Griffin. 

It was only a matter of time before Mr. Griffin learned of Falana’s singing talent and asked Avelio to sing on his TV show.  One thing led to another and modeling and television commercials followed.

Avelio left Griffin’s organization to join sister Lola’s production team and eventually moved to Rome, Italy, where he and Lola worked in television.  As Falana established his reputation and connections, calls came in for movie and TV roles.  First came MGM’s Shaft In Africa, with Richard Roundtree.  Relocating to California he also landed hit television seriesThe Streets of SanFrancisco, with Michael Douglas.  Then came appearances on Dinah Shore’s weekly series.

Falana’s decision to move to Maui proved to be fateful as well.  His singing style reminded listeners so much of Johnny Mathis that he was invited to pay tribute to the music icon in Legends In Concert, the world’s most prestigious tribute show.  That was 15 years ago and today Falana, (considered the world’s best Mathis tribute artist), performs his tribute to Mathis all over the world.

08/09