Description
MASSIMO BOLDI BIOGRAPHY :
Massimo Antonio Boldi (born 23 July 1945) is an Italian stand-up comedian and actor. Boldi was born in Luino on 23 July 1945. In 1955 his family moved to Milan, where he joined evening classes and began working as a window-dresser and then as a door-to-door salesman for a pastry company. In 1968 he started performing in cabaret. In the 1970s he did not perform, but managed a bar-latteria in Milan. On 29 September 1973 he married Marisa Selo (cousin of Formula One driver Michele Alboreto). Their marriage lasted until Selo’s death on 8 April 2004.
ANDREA RONCATO BIOGRAPHY :
Andrea Roncato (born 7 March 1947 in Bologna) is an Italian actor, comedian and television personality. Andrea Roncato has a Law degree from the University of Bologna and a solfège diploma from the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini. He has attended several acting courses, both in Italy and in the United States. His notoriety is mainly due to the comedy duo Gigi e Andrea with fellow comedian Gigi Sammarchi: after several television appearances they have become one of the most famous duos of Italian cinema in the 80s. They are known for their easy-going style and irreverence. Gigi e Andrea have been spokespeople for Agip Petroli and Autobianchi Y10 4WD in the 1980s. After gaining popularity with Sammarchi, Andrea Roncato continued his solo career starring in several films (including some Christmas comedies with Massimo Boldi and Christian De Sica) and in some television series. From 2002 to 2008, he starred as Romanò in the television series Carabinieri on Canale 5 (7 seasons). In 2007, he was made a Knight of Malta. In 2008, he starred in the film Ho ammazzato Berlusconi and in the same year he had his first book, Ti avrei voluto, published by Excelsior1881. The following year, he participated as a contestant to Ballando con le stelle, a reality show on Rai 1 (and the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars). Besides acting, presenting and voice-acting, Roncato is also an acting teacher. He has worked as art director in some nightclubs and at various charity events, he has been a promoter of the campaign “SOS Foca Monaca”, of the campaign in Fabriano to raise awareness about dog’s excrement collection, and he has been named a world ambassador for the protection of disabled children. He is a great lover of animals, especially dogs, and has managed to create a special shelter for strays. He personally owns two, a setter named Padberg and a Czechoslovakian shepherd, Tullio.
LINO BANFI BIOGRAPHY :
Lino Banfi (born Pasquale Zagaria; 9 July 1936) is an Italian film actor and presenter. He has appeared in more than 100 films since 1960. He was born in the Apulian city of Andria and at the age of three, moved to Canosa di Puglia. Lino Banfi became one of the most well-known actors in Italian “sexy comedies” in the 1970s. In the 1980s he reached the peak of his fame by appearing in movies such as L’allenatore nel pallone, Vieni avanti cretino, Il commissario Lo Gatto and Occhio, malocchio, prezzemolo e finocchio; he recently portrayed Grandpa Libero in Italian TV series Un medico in famiglia. During his career nearly all of Lino Banfi’s characters spoke with the distinctive pronunciation of the Bari dialect. Lino and his wife Lucia have been married since 1962 and have two children, Walter and Rosanna; Rosanna is also an actress. In 2000, Lino Banfi became a Goodwill Ambassador for the Italian National Committee for UNICEF.
CHRISTIAN DE SICA BIOGRAPHY :
Christian De Sica (born 5 January 1951) is an Italian actor and film director.
Life
De Sica was born in Rome the second son of Italian director Vittorio De Sica and Spanish actress María Mercader. His first cousin once removed was Ramón Mercader, the murderer of Leon Trotsky. After attending Liceo classico in Rome, where he had Carlo Verdone as his deskmate, De Sica worked in a hotel in Venezuela, where he began his career as an artist. He enrolled in “Lettere” (Literature and Arts) at La Sapienza university (1970), but did not graduate. He was attracted to music, and participated in the Sanremo Festival singing “Mondo mio” (“My world”) (1973). However, the results convinced him to follow in his father’s footsteps and devote himself to acting. De Sica developed his own style of comedy and entertainment also in Rai television shows, such as Bambole, non c’è una lira which gave him a large success in 1978.
Acting career
With his father’s help, he was able to take his first steps in the movie world with such teachers and mentors as Roberto Rossellini (Blaise Pascal, 1971), Vittorio De Sica himself (Una breve vacanza, 1973), Pupi Avati (Bordella, 1976) and Salvatore Samperi (1979 Liquirizia and 1981 Casta e pura). He married Silvia Verdone, sister of Carlo, with whom he had two children, Brando and Mariarosa. He achieved fame in the 1980s: in 1982 Borotalco was released, together with his brother-in-law Verdone, then he filmed Sapore di Mare with Jerry Calà as well as Yuppies, Yuppies 2, Grandi Magazzini and Compagni di Scuola. After Night club, the last film directed by Italian director Sergio Corbucci, Christian De Sica became one of the most famous interpreters of the “cine-panettone” (comedies that reach movie theatres during the Christmas season) and formed till 2005 a partnership with actor Massimo Boldi. They acted together in the series of Vacanze di Natale and A spasso nel tempo (1996), Paparazzi (1998), Tifosi (1999) and Christmas in Love (2004). By 2002, their films had grossed 300 billion lire ($150 million). Afterwards, he starred in Natale a New York (2006), Natale in crociera (2007) and Natale a Rio (2008). These films, done in burlesque style, tend to be well received at the box office, if not by critics, at times even outstripping better known and expensively made movies such as the Harry Potter series. As an actor, De Sica has won three David di Donatello awards: a prize for Giovannino in 1976, a special one together with Massimo Boldi in 2000, and the third one in 2009. He received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2016.
Directing career
Since 1990 Christian De Sica has also been a director: he debuted with Faccione, whose script he wrote and tailor-made for actress Nadia Rinaldi. After Count Max, a homage to the cinema of his father and of Mario Camerini, that he interpreted with Ornella Muti, Anita Ekberg and his mother Maria Mercader, De Sica went on self-directing in Ricky & Barabba (1992), Men Men Men (1995), Tre (1996), Simpatici & antipatici (1998) and The Clan (2005). A great admirer of Frank Sinatra and above all of Marlon Brando, he named his first child Brando in honour of the American actor. Criticism has often likened his acting to that of Alberto Sordi, from whom De Sica has drawn a lot of his expressions.
Life
De Sica was born in Rome the second son of Italian director Vittorio De Sica and Spanish actress María Mercader. His first cousin once removed was Ramón Mercader, the murderer of Leon Trotsky. After attending Liceo classico in Rome, where he had Carlo Verdone as his deskmate, De Sica worked in a hotel in Venezuela, where he began his career as an artist. He enrolled in “Lettere” (Literature and Arts) at La Sapienza university (1970), but did not graduate. He was attracted to music, and participated in the Sanremo Festival singing “Mondo mio” (“My world”) (1973). However, the results convinced him to follow in his father’s footsteps and devote himself to acting. De Sica developed his own style of comedy and entertainment also in Rai television shows, such as Bambole, non c’è una lira which gave him a large success in 1978.
Acting career
With his father’s help, he was able to take his first steps in the movie world with such teachers and mentors as Roberto Rossellini (Blaise Pascal, 1971), Vittorio De Sica himself (Una breve vacanza, 1973), Pupi Avati (Bordella, 1976) and Salvatore Samperi (1979 Liquirizia and 1981 Casta e pura). He married Silvia Verdone, sister of Carlo, with whom he had two children, Brando and Mariarosa. He achieved fame in the 1980s: in 1982 Borotalco was released, together with his brother-in-law Verdone, then he filmed Sapore di Mare with Jerry Calà as well as Yuppies, Yuppies 2, Grandi Magazzini and Compagni di Scuola. After Night club, the last film directed by Italian director Sergio Corbucci, Christian De Sica became one of the most famous interpreters of the “cine-panettone” (comedies that reach movie theatres during the Christmas season) and formed till 2005 a partnership with actor Massimo Boldi. They acted together in the series of Vacanze di Natale and A spasso nel tempo (1996), Paparazzi (1998), Tifosi (1999) and Christmas in Love (2004). By 2002, their films had grossed 300 billion lire ($150 million). Afterwards, he starred in Natale a New York (2006), Natale in crociera (2007) and Natale a Rio (2008). These films, done in burlesque style, tend to be well received at the box office, if not by critics, at times even outstripping better known and expensively made movies such as the Harry Potter series. As an actor, De Sica has won three David di Donatello awards: a prize for Giovannino in 1976, a special one together with Massimo Boldi in 2000, and the third one in 2009. He received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2016.
Directing career
Since 1990 Christian De Sica has also been a director: he debuted with Faccione, whose script he wrote and tailor-made for actress Nadia Rinaldi. After Count Max, a homage to the cinema of his father and of Mario Camerini, that he interpreted with Ornella Muti, Anita Ekberg and his mother Maria Mercader, De Sica went on self-directing in Ricky & Barabba (1992), Men Men Men (1995), Tre (1996), Simpatici & antipatici (1998) and The Clan (2005). A great admirer of Frank Sinatra and above all of Marlon Brando, he named his first child Brando in honour of the American actor. Criticism has often likened his acting to that of Alberto Sordi, from whom De Sica has drawn a lot of his expressions.
NERI PARENTI BIOGRAPHY :
Neri Parenti (born 26 April 1950, in Florence) is an Italian film director and writer. He is known for comedy films, including the series starring Paolo Villaggio playing the character Ugo Fantozzi, and a later series of cinepanettoni—zany comedy films scheduled for release during the Christmas period.
