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Vittorio Gassman is a Actor, Director and Writer Italien born on 1 september 1922 at Genoa (Italie)

Vittorio Gassman

Vittorio Gassman
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Nationality Italie
Birth 1 september 1922 at Genoa (Italie)
Death 29 june 2000 (at 77 years) at Rome (Italie)
Awards Best Actor Award

Vittorio Gassman, Knight Grand Cross, OMRI ([vitˈtɔːrjo ˈɡazman]; born Vittorio Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as Il Mattatore, was an Italian theatre and film actor, as well as director.

He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors and is commonly recalled as an extremely professional, versatile, magnetic interpreter, whose long career includes both important productions as well as dozens of divertissements (which made him greatly popular).

Biography

Early life
He was born in Genoa to a German father, Heinrich Gassmann, and a Pisan Jewish mother, Luisa Ambron. While still very young he moved to Rome, where he studied at the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica.


Career
Gassman's debut was in Milan, in 1942, with Alda Borelli in Niccodemi's Nemica (theatre). He then moved to Rome and acted at the Teatro Eliseo joining Tino Carraro and Ernesto Calindri in a team that remained famous for some time; with them he acted in a range of plays from bourgeois comedy to sophisticated intellectual theatre. In 1946, he made his film debut in Preludio d'amore, while only one year later he appeared in five films. In 1948 he played in Riso amaro.

It was with Luchino Visconti's company that Gassman achieved his mature successes, together with Paolo Stoppa, Rina Morelli and Paola Borboni. He played Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' Un tram che si chiama desiderio (A Streetcar Named Desire), as well as in As You Like It (by Shakespeare) and Oreste (by Vittorio Alfieri). He joined the Teatro Nazionale with Tommaso Salvini, Massimo Girotti, Arnoldo Foà to create a successful Peer Gynt (by Henrik Ibsen). With Luigi Squarzina in 1952 he co-founded and co-directed the Teatro d'Arte Italiano, producing the first complete version of Hamlet in Italy, followed by rare works such as Seneca's Thyestes and Aeschylus's The Persians.

In 1956 Gassman played the title role in a production of Othello. He was so well received by his acting in the television series entitled Il Mattatore (Spotlight Chaser) that "Il Mattatore" became the nickname that accompanied him for the rest of his life. Gassman's debut in the commedia all'italiana genre was rather accidental, in Mario Monicelli's I soliti ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street, 1958). Famous movies featuring Gassman include: Il sorpasso (1962), La Grande Guerra (1962), I mostri (1963), L'Armata Brancaleone (1966), Profumo di donna (1974) and C'eravamo tanto amati (1974).

He directed Adelchi, a lesser-known work by Alessandro Manzoni. Gassman brought this production to half a million spectators, crossing Italy with his Teatro Popolare Itinerante (a newer edition of the famous Carro di Tespi). His productions have included many of the famous authors and playwrights of the 20th century, with repeated returns to the classics of Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky and the Greek tragicians. He also founded a theatre school in Florence (Bottega Teatrale di Firenze), which educated many of the more talented actors of the current generation of Italian thespians.

In cinema, he worked frequently both in Italy and abroad. He met and fell in love with American actress Shelley Winters while she was touring Europe with fiancé Farley Granger. When Winters was forced to return to Hollywood to fulfill contractual obligations, he followed her there and married her. With his natural charisma and his fluency in English he scored a number of roles in Hollywood, including Rhapsody with Elizabeth Taylor and The Glass Wall before returning to Italy and the theatre. While rehearsing Hamlet, he began an affair with Anna Maria Ferrero, his 16-year-old Ophelia, which ended his marriage to Winters. He and Winters were forced to work together on Mambo just as their marriage was unraveling, providing fodder for tabloids all over the world. He later voiced Mufasa in the Italian version of The Lion King.


Personal life
Gassman married three actresses: Nora Ricci (with whom he had Paola, an actress and wife of Ugo Pagliai); Shelley Winters (mother of his daughter Vittoria); and Diletta D'Andrea, by whom he had a son, Jacopo. In addition, he had an affair with actress Juliette Mayniel (mother of his son Alessandro, also an actor). In the 1990s he took part in the popular TV show Tunnel in which he very formally and "seriously"' recited documents such as utility bills, yellow pages and similar trivial texts, such as washing instructions for a wool sweater or cookies ingredients. He rendered them with the same professional skill that made him famous while reciting Dante's Divine Comedy.

On 29 June 2000, Gassman died of a heart attack at his home in Rome, aged 77.

Best films

Sleepers (1996)
(Actor)
Sharky's Machine (1981)
(Actor)
War and Peace (1956)
(Actor)
Tempest (1958)
(Actor)
Bitter Rice (1949)
(Actor)
Scent of a Woman (1974)
(Actor)

Usually with

Dino Risi
Dino Risi
(18 films)
Ettore Scola
Ettore Scola
(19 films)
Mario Monicelli
Mario Monicelli
(19 films)
Furio Scarpelli
Furio Scarpelli
(21 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Vittorio Gassman (118 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Dante's Hell Animated, 38minutes
Origin USA
Genres Horror, Animation
Themes Demons in film
Actors Eric Roberts, Jeff Conaway, Nia Peeples, Vincent Spano, Franco Nero, Hélène Cardona
Rating67% 3.3943653.3943653.3943653.3943653.394365
This film has two versions, narrated in English and recited in Italian. The Italian version is recited in primitive Italian and Dante Alighieri's own words as he wrote the poem.
The Dinner
The Dinner (1998)

Directed by Ettore Scola
Origin Italie
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Themes Cooking films
Actors Fanny Ardant, Antonio Catania, Francesca D'Aloja, Riccardo Garrone, Vittorio Gassman, Giancarlo Giannini
Roles maestro Pezzullo
Rating68% 3.444623.444623.444623.444623.44462
Dans un restaurant, chaque table a son histoire développée en une séquence du film.
Sleepers
Sleepers (1996)
, 2h27
Directed by Barry Levinson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Themes Films about children, Prison films, Films about sexuality, Rape in fiction, Films about pedophilia, Rape and revenge films, Buddy films
Actors Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro, Joseph Perrino, Vittorio Gassman, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Patric
Roles King Benny
Rating75% 3.750633.750633.750633.750633.75063
Lorenzo "Shakes" Carcaterra, Thomas "Tommy" Marcano, Michael Sullivan, and John Reilly are childhood friends in Hell's Kitchen, New York City in the mid-1960s. The local priest, Father Robert "Bobby" Carillo, plays an important part in their lives and keeps an eye on them. However, early on they start running small errands for a local mafia gangster, "King" Benny.
Abraham
Abraham (1993)
, 2h55
Directed by Joseph Sargent
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Fantasy, Adventure, Historical
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about religion, Films based on the Bible, Films about Jews and Judaism
Actors Richard Harris, Barbara Hershey, Vittorio Gassman, Maximilian Schell, Gottfried John, Kevin McNally
Roles Terach
Rating72% 3.607643.607643.607643.607643.60764
Abram lives in Harran, a rich city. His wife Sarah (Barbara Hershey) is childless, and their only heir is Eliezer of Damascus. One day he hears the voice of God, who says that he must leave Haran and travel to an unknown land. God promises to make a great nation from him and renames him Abraham. The pattern for the plot is the Genesis chapters 11-25.
I'll Be Going Now, 1h34
Directed by Dino Risi
Origin Italie
Genres Drama, Comedy
Actors Vittorio Gassman, Dominique Sanda, Monica Scattini, Eva Grimaldi, Elliott Gould, Firmine Richard
Roles Augusto Scribani
Rating67% 3.3651853.3651853.3651853.3651853.365185
En Italie, la loi 180 du 13 mai 1978 supprime la détention des malades mentaux en hôpital psychiatrique. Après dix-huit ans passés en hôpital psychiatrique, Augusto Scribani revient chez lui. Là vivent sa belle-fille et son amant, la fille de ce dernier ainsi que sa propre petite fille, Rosa. Mal acceptée par les adultes, il parvient à nouer une relation de grande complicité avec Rosa. Mais à la suite de ses gaffes et de ses provocations, sa belle-fille voudrait le faire enfermer à nouveau. Il s'enfuit alors chez son ami Alcide, un ex interné qui vit avec Ines, une sémillante prostituée. Rosa parvient à les rejoindre et est recherchée par la police. Les deux hommes sont arrêtés. Six mois plus tard Augusto rencontre à nouveau Rosa qui est pensionnaire à Stresa.
Rossini! Rossini!, 2h35
Directed by Mario Monicelli
Origin Italie
Genres Drama, Biography, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Films about classical music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Sergio Castellitto, Philippe Noiret, Giorgio Gaber, Jacqueline Bisset, Assumpta Serna, Sabine Azéma
Roles Ludwig van Beethoven
Rating58% 2.9145852.9145852.9145852.9145852.914585
In 1868 the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini is already famous all over the country. However, his last opera The Barber of Seville is not understood and even booed by the audience at La Scala for the indecency of the sets and love situations. Also disappointed by the replicas at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, then Rossini decides to move to Paris, where he is hailed as a genius.
1001 Nights, 1h38
Directed by Philippe de Broca
Origin France
Genres Fantastic, Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure
Themes Time travel films, Children's films
Actors Thierry Lhermitte, Gérard Jugnot, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stéphane Freiss, Vittorio Gassman, Roger Carel
Roles Sinbad
Rating53% 2.6963452.6963452.6963452.6963452.696345
In Baghdad the caliph orders that every morning he should marry with beautiful girls, because every night he kills them. One day a beautiful girl named Scheherazade decides to rebel against the authority of the bloody caliph, legalinstruments telling fantastic stories every night to him; so that she will not be killed. Among the stories is that of Sinbad the sailor, who turns seven trips into seven different lands, knowing monsters, magical creatures, and finding priceless treasures. When Sheherazade ends her stories, invokes the help of the Genie of the Lamp, already protagonist of a story of the girl, which leads Sheherazade in the modern world.
The Palermo Connection, 1h40
Directed by Francesco Rosi
Origin Italie
Genres Thriller
Themes Mafia films, Seafaring films, Transport films, Gangster films
Actors James Belushi, Mimi Rogers, Joss Ackland, Vittorio Gassman, Philippe Noiret, Marco Leonardi
Roles Il principe
Rating56% 2.812892.812892.812892.812892.81289
Carmine Bonavia is elected mayor of New York City on the issue of drug legalization. After the election, he marries and travels to his ancestral home of Sicily for their honeymoon where he encounters men of power will stop at nothing to prevent the legalization of drugs, which threatens their business.
The Amusements of Private Life, 1h40
Directed by Cristina Comencini
Origin Italie
Genres Comedy
Actors Delphine Forest, Christophe Malavoy, Giancarlo Giannini, Vittorio Gassman, Roberto Citran, Nathalie Guetta
Roles Marquis
Rating56% 2.832882.832882.832882.832882.83288
Pendant la Révolution française, une prostituée accepte de se faire passer pour une femme riche qui lui ressemble beaucoup.