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Walter Chiari is a Actor and Scriptwriter Italien born on 8 march 1924 at Verona (Italie)

Walter Chiari

Walter Chiari
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Birth name Walter Annicchiarico
Nationality Italie
Birth 8 march 1924 at Verona (Italie)
Death 20 december 1991 (at 67 years) at Milan (Italie)

Walter Chiari [ˈvalter ˈkjaːri], stage name of Walter Annicchiarico (8 March 1924 - 20 December 1991), was a hugely successful Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles.

Biography

Born in Verona, Chiari achieved a certain degree of international success in films such as The Little Hut (1957), Bonjour Tristesse (1958), Chimes at Midnight (1966), and The Valachi Papers (1972). He appeared opposite Anna Magnani in Luchino Visconti's film Bellissima (1951).

In the late 1950s and '60s he was one of the main protagonists of the "Dolce Vita", the glitzy and glamorous Italian jet-set scene, centered in Rome and especially focused on the booming cinema industry with which he was so at ease.

During the making of The Little Hut he met Ava Gardner (still formally married to Frank Sinatra but already estranged from him), and he started a passionate and tumultuous relationship with the American superstar.

Unlike many Italian actors of the time he had a full and fluent command of English that he put to good use in his Broadway spell, which in 1961 saw him performing in The Gay Life (a musical comedy inspired by a Schnitzler piece) for 113 shows.

He starred in They're a Weird Mob (1966), the last of the Powell and Pressburger films, based on a popular Australian novel by John O'Grady. He also appeared in the Australian film Squeeze a Flower in 1970.

In 1970 he was arrested and jailed in Rome on suspicion of cocaine possession and trafficking, with 70 days passing before he was bailed.
Despite being known in show business as a cocaine user, Chiari enjoyed for years the de facto impunity often accorded to members of his trade (provided he kept his addiction private).
The willingness of authorities to prosecute him, mounting a nationwide scandal, was seen by some as an attempt to distract public opinion from the fruitless search for the culprits of the Piazza Fontana bombing, which precipitated Italy in fear.

After his release and partial acquittal (he was deemed not guilty of the trafficking count and received a lenient sentence for the charge of drug possession for personal use) his career never recovered. The Italian state television was off-limits for him, and all he could aspire to were bit parts in low-key comedies and local television appearances, such as on Antenna 3 Lombardia. He concentrated on theatre as a mean to escape the downward spiral and, while never regaining his former fame, he gave some brilliant performances in plays such as Sheridan's The Critic Marc Terrier's Six heures plus tard and Beckett's Endgame.

Chiari died of a sudden heart attack in Milan, at home, on 21 December 1991. On that same day he had undertaken a complete, positive medical check-up. Not showing up at a dinner with a theatral manager where he should have discussed his involvement in a new production he was found by his host (who reached the residence where he was living at the time) sitting in an armchair, in front of a functioning television.

His gravestone carries the line he once mentioned to director Dino Risi as his favorite choice for an epitaph: "Don't worry, I'm merely catching up with sleep". The grave is inside Civico Mausoleo Palanti in Cimitero Monumentale di Milano.

Best films

Nana (1955)
(Actor)
Headlines of Destruction (1955)
(Actor)
The Moment of Truth (1952)
(Actor)

Usually with

Vittorio Metz
Vittorio Metz
(14 films)
Steno
Steno
(12 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Walter Chiari (79 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Romance
Romance (1986)

Directed by Massimo Mazzucco
Genres Drama
Actors Walter Chiari, Luca Barbareschi
Roles Giulio
Rating67% 3.382123.382123.382123.382123.38212
Zig Zig
Zig Zig (1975)
, 1h29
Directed by László Szabó
Genres Drama, Crime
Actors Catherine Deneuve, Bernadette Lafont, Walter Chiari, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Yves Afonso, Georgette Anys
Roles Walter, le clochard
Rating55% 2.7676652.7676652.7676652.7676652.767665
Marie et Pauline sont deux chanteuses de cabaret, qui rêvent de s'offrir un chalet à la montagne. Pour ce faire, les deux femmes se prostituent. Marie se trouve mêlée à une affaire concernant l'enlèvement de la femme d'un de ses clients. De plus, elle découvre que Pauline est dans le coup. Un policier retraité résout l'affaire.
The Valachi Papers, 2h5
Directed by Terence Young
Origin Italie
Genres Drama, Mob film, Crime
Themes Films about immigration, Mafia films, Seafaring films, Transport films, Gangster films
Actors Charles Bronson, Lino Ventura, Jill Ireland, Walter Chiari, Joseph Wiseman, Gerald S. O'Loughlin
Roles Dominick Petrilli, aka "Gap"
Rating63% 3.199313.199313.199313.199313.19931
The movie begins in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, where an aging prisoner named Joseph Valachi (Charles Bronson) is imprisoned for smuggling heroin. The boss of his crime family, Vito Genovese (Lino Ventura), is imprisoned there as well. Genovese is certain that Valachi is an informant, and gives him the "kiss of death." Valachi kisses him back.
Squeeze a Flower, 1h42
Directed by Marc Daniels
Genres Comedy
Actors Walter Chiari, Jack Albertson, Rowena Wallace, Roger Ward, Barry Crocker, Bobby Limb
Roles Brother George
Rating56% 2.812392.812392.812392.812392.81239
Brother George is the only monk at the Italian Monastery who knows the secret recipe of the popular liqueur that is the sole source of income for the monastery. When he feels their sole distributor, a local wine merchant, isn't giving the Monastery a fair price, he leaves and moves to Australia. There he works at a vineyard picking grapes and starts making the Liquor in his spare time.
Monte Carlo or Bust!, 2h
Directed by Ken Annakin
Genres Comedy, Action, Adventure
Themes Sports films, Transport films, Films about automobiles, Auto racing films, Road movies
Actors Tony Curtis, André Bourvil, Lando Buzzanca, Walter Chiari, Peter Cook, Terry-Thomas
Roles Angelo Pincelli
Rating60% 3.0485953.0485953.0485953.0485953.048595
An international car rally in the 1920s attracts competitors from all over the world to compete in the Monte Carlo Rally. The arch rivals from England, Italy, France and Germany find that their greatest competition comes from the United States in the form of Chester Schofield (Tony Curtis), who had won half of an automobile factory in a poker game with the late father of baronet Sir Cuthbert Ware-Armitage (Terry-Thomas). Ware-Armitage has entered the race in a winner-take-all to exact revenge and win back the lost half of the company.
Caprice Italian Style, 1h35
Directed by Mauro Bolognini, Mario Monicelli, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Franco Rossi, Steno
Genres Comedy
Actors Totò, Walter Chiari, Ugo D'Alessio, Ninetto Davoli, Laura Betti, Renzo Marignano
Roles Paolo
Rating63% 3.190433.190433.190433.190433.19043
Iago: "What do you feel inside? Focus. What do you feel? "
La più bella coppia del mondo, 1h36
Directed by Camillo Mastrocinque
Origin Italie
Genres Comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Musicarello
Actors Walter Chiari, Aldo Giuffrè, Paola Quattrini, Gianni Agus, Francesco Mulé, Adriano Celentano
Roles Walter
Rating60% 3.0376753.0376753.0376753.0376753.037675
Walter et Paola, respectivement présentateur et marraine du sixième Cantagiro (1967), sont coincés par un mensonge : pour écarter une admiratrice, Walter se dit marié à Paola, mais la nouvelle devient publique. Dans un premier temps, les deux personnages voudraient démentir le bruit, mais Paola s'en sert aussi pour écarter un admirateur encombrant, Turiddu Lo Cascio. D'autres péripéties interviennent autour de ce quiproquo.
Love Italian Style, 1h40
Directed by Steno
Origin Italie
Genres Comedy
Actors Walter Chiari, Rika Diallina, Isabella Biagini, Vivi Bach, Paolo Carlini, Paolo Panelli
Roles contadino, tifoso cornuto, voce registrata, agente 007, passeggero in treno, playboy.
Rating56% 2.8331652.8331652.8331652.8331652.833165
Me, Me, Me... and the Others, 1h35
Directed by Alessandro Blasetti
Origin Italie
Genres Comedy
Actors Gina Lollobrigida, Marcello Mastroianni, Walter Chiari, Vittorio De Sica, Saro Urzì, Sylva Koscina
Roles Sandro
Rating64% 3.2325953.2325953.2325953.2325953.232595
Sandro (Walter Chiari) est journaliste à Rome. Il mène une enquête sur l'égoïsme de ses concitoyens, aidé par son ami Peppino (Marcello Mastroianni). Il côtoie divers personnages de la ville : une diva (Silvana Mangano), un politicien véreux (Vittorio Caprioli)...
They're a Weird Mob, 1h52
Directed by Michael Powell
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films
Actors Walter Chiari, Chips Rafferty, Alida Chelli, Ed Devereaux, John Meillon, Anne Haddy
Roles Nino Culotta
Rating64% 3.243033.243033.243033.243033.24303
Nino Culotta is an Italian immigrant, newly arrived in Australia. He expected to work for his cousin as a sports writer for an Italian magazine. However, on arrival in Sydney Nino discovers that the cousin has abandoned the magazine, leaving a substantial debt to Kay Kelly. Nino declares that he will get a job and pay back the debt.
Ischia operazione amore, 1h26
Directed by Vittorio Sala
Origin Italie
Genres Comedy, Romance
Actors Walter Chiari, Hélène Chanel, Anna Campori, Ingrid Schoeller, Evi Marandi, Peppino De Filippo
Roles Enrico Laterra
Rating56% 2.836112.836112.836112.836112.83611
Sur l'île d'Ischia s'entremêlent les aventures de divers personnages.