John Bensalhia provides an overview of some of the top comic acting and entertainment talent to have graced Italy over the last 100 years...
Totò
When it comes to Italian comedy actors, one of the best known and regarded is Totò. Dubbed the “Prince of Laughter”, he was born on 15th February 1898. Totò starred in a good number of classic comedy films and was accepted very much as part of the 'Commedia dell'Arte' style of comedy. His films included Miseria e Nobiltà; Che fine ha fatto Totò Baby? (a parody of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane); and Fifa e Arena. His co-stars included Claudia Cardinale, Aldo Fabrizi and Sophia Loren. His uniquely irregular face stood him in good stead as a comic performer (the result of an accident that he endured as a teenager), as did his talent for distorting his body in the way that a marionette does - however Totò was also a serious actor, poet and songwriter. His jokes could occasionally run close to the borderline, and could be risque at times, but his portfolio of work has left a definite lasting impression. He passed away on 15th April 1967.
Roberto Benigni
If ever you feel that aspects of modern life are dragging you down, then it's safe to say that a look at a Roberto Benigni routine may leave you jumping for joy. Benigini's diatribes on life have helped him to become one of Italy's all-time great comedy figures. He was born on 27th October 1952, and went on to become an Academy Award winner and multiple nominee. His films include Non ci resta che piangere (in which he appeared with fellow comic actor Massimo Troisi) and 1993's Son Of The Pink Panther, in which he starred as Inspector Clouseau's illegitimate son. However, it was 1997's La vita e bella (Life Is Beautiful) that really brought Benigni to prominence. This bittersweet tragicomedy was partly based on his father's own experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. In addition, Benigni has also performed improvisational poetry sessions, for example his one man show on Dante was performed in the mid Noughties.
Massimo Troisi
You all know Troisi for his role as the sweet postman who learns to love poetry when he encounters Chilean poet Pablo Neruda exiled to a small island in Italy in Il Postino. But Troisi started his artistic career as a cabaret showman in 1972, as a member of the comic trio called "I Saraceni" and, later, "La Smorfia" with Enzo De Caro and Lello Arena. They started working on the radio and eventually became TV stars in the 1970s on the shows Non Stop, La sberla and Luna Park. Troisi soon gained the status of leader of the trio. He was noted for his use of facial mimicry and of apparently confused speech—in these he drew inspiration from such famous figures of Neapolitan comedy as Totò, and Eduardo and Peppino De Filippo. He wrote, directed and starred in his first film, Ricomincio da tre and Scusate il ritardo, Le vie del Signore sono finite, and starred alongside Roberto Benigni in Non ci resta che piangere (1985) and Marcello Mastroianni, in Ettore Scola's Splendor (1988). Il Postino brought him international fame. He had postponed heart surgery so that he could complete the film, but he died of a heart attack just twelve hours after the main filming had finished. He was posthumously nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role.
Maurizio Crozza
Italian comedian, actor and television presenter, he currently opens Rai 3 political talk show Ballarò and hosts one of the most popular comedy shows on the network channel La7, Crozza Italia, Crozza Alive, Italialand and Crozza nel Paese delle Meraviglie. The shows have now become a cult and many of his sketches are also among the most viewed video on youtube getting millions of visualisation. On the show he performed caricatures of many famous Italian and international figures like Angela Merkel, Sergio Marchionne, Antonio Banderas, Joe Bastianich, President Napolitano and many other Italian politicians. Crozza has also starred in a number of films, including the 1995 movie Peggio di così si muore by Marcello Cesena.
Paolo Villaggio
Paolo Villaggio is probably best known for his creation of hapless, unhappy accounting clerk, Ugo Fantozzi. Fantozzi summed up the middle class lifestyle of the mid 1970s, a weak, unlucky, downtrodden chap lost in a sea of decadence. Originally, Fantozzi appeared in magazines L'Espresso and L'Europeo and following the publication of a collection of these stories, a film called Fantozzi was released in 1975 – and also spawned a follow-up called Il secondo tragico. Born in December 1932, Villaggio also created other notable characters such as the shy Giandomenico Fracchia and the parody of Professor Franz.
Ferdinando 'Fred' Buscaglione
The tragedy of Ferdinando Buscaglione is that he was on the cusp of greatness when he died after a car accident in February 1960 at the young age of 38. Buscaglione's most remembered trademark was his mobster appearance, as he fashioned a persona that took root from Mickey Spillane and Clark Gable gangsters. On stage, his character would have a weakness for women and drink. He also penned a number of hit songs with friend Leo Chiosso, including Whisky facile and Che bambola. In addition to this, in the mid-1950s, he was gaining a reputation for being a top performer at clubs and theatres.
Alberto Sordi
One of Alberto Sordi's most famous accomplishments is being the Italian Oliver Hardy. When the Laurel and hardy films came to Italy, Sordi was called upon to dub over Hardy's lines in Italian. Sordi's own career was highly prolific too, spanning 149 films. Born on 15th June 1920, Sordi quickly became a popular comedy and light drama actor, with roles such as a childish slacker in 1953's I vitelloni, the lead in Lo scapolo (The Bachelor) and in two highly regarded films, Monicelli's Great War and 1965 comedy I complessi. However, Sordi also won a reputation for being a serious actor – in particular, his acclaimed turn as a grieving father vowing to avenge his son's death was a highpoint of 1977's Un borghese piccolo piccolo. 1984's Tutti dentro was another hit for Sordi, who passed away on 25th February 2003.
Raimondo Vianello
To modern-day viewers, Raimondo Vianello's comic legacy would have been his recurring role with his wife Sandra Mondaini on Casa Vianello, a popular situation comedy that ran between 1988 and 2007. Prior to this, Vianello was a jack-of-all-trades, whether as an actor, an entertainer or as a host. He debuted on television with Ugo Tognazzi in 1954, presenting the satirical Un due tre – but it was a satirical sketch about then-president of the republic, Giovanni Gronchi that sealed the programme's fate. Following a prolific film career in the 1950s and 1960s, Vianello and his wife Sandra became TV regulars, appearing on various comedy sketch and variety shows. Casa Vianello was the most famous and long-running of these, and only a couple of years later, Vianello passed away on 15th April 2010.
Carlo Verdone
A regular presence in Italian comedy films since the early 1980s, Carlo Verdone is an award-winning favourite. Born on 17th November 1950, Verdone's major breakthrough came in 1981 with the film Bianco, rosso e verdone, in which he played three different characters, Furio, Mimmo and Pasquale Ametrano. The following year, Borotalco proved to be another hit for Verdone, also an accomplished director and screenwriter. In later years, Verdone has continued to appear in hit Italian comedy films – a notable example is 2005's Manuale d'amore, a love comedy anthology in which he appeared as a jilted doctor called Goffredo. The comedy spawned a number of sequels.
