Lando Buzzanca

Gerlando "Lando" Buzzanca (24 August 1935 – 18 December 2022) was an Italian stage, film, and television actor whose career spanned 65 years.

Life and career

Early years Born in Palermo the son of a cinema projectionist, at 16 years old Buzzanca left the high school and moved to Rome to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. In order to survive, he took many jobs including waiter, furniture mover, and a brief appearance as a slave in the film Ben-Hur. He made his official debut in Pietro Germi's Divorce Italian Style, and soon specialized in the role of the average immigrant from southern Italy. 1970s–1980s: Huge success in the commedia sexy all'italiana

After two successful "James Tont" films in which he played a parody of James Bond in the 1960s, and having starred in 33 films already, he was "discovered" in 1970 in The Swinging Confessors (also known as The Married Priest). Buzzanca then had a large success in a series of satirical commedia sexy all'italiana films which satirized major institutions such as politics, religion, trade unions and financial world. Lando Buzzanca with Laura Antonelli in Il merlo maschio (1971) directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile, which was a huge success and made him a major star in the genre of commedia sexy all'italiana. In the following years he acted alongside famous actresses of the moment, such as Claudia Cardinale, Catherine Spaak, Barbara Bouchet, Gloria Guida, Senta Berger and Joan Collins. His 17 films since The Swinging Confessors grossed 20 billion lire ($32 million).

1990s–2000s: The theater, the last great film and the well received TV series. With the decline of the genre, he slowed his film activities, focusing into theatre and television, in which he enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the 2000s thanks to a series of well-received TV-series. In 2014 he suffered from a mild cerebral ischemia which caused him aphasia, but by the following year he had fully recovered from his depressive period and started a relationship with a younger woman, Antonella. In 2016 he participated as dancer in the television program Ballando con le Stelle and started a romance with a younger actress and journalist Francesca Della Valle.

2020s: physical decline On 21 April 2021, he fell at home and suffered a head injury; he was rescued by the maid, who found him the day after the accident still unconscious on the ground and called an ambulance. He was admitted to the Santo Spirito hospital in Rome. On 15 August 2021, Buzzanca, after the treatment received at the hospital, seemed to have fully recovered, as confirmed also by his son Massimiliano. On 27 December 2021, Buzzanca was hospitalized at the health facility in Rome, due to the worsening of his health conditions. In his later years Buzzanca suffered from senile dementia.

Death On 18 December 2022, Buzzanca died at the Agostino Gemelli University Policlinic in Rome, where he was recovered a few days prior because of a fall, at the age of 87.

On 21 December 2022, the funeral ceremony took place in the Church of the Artists in Rome, in which his partner Francesca Della Valle unexpectedly did not take part.

Awards

David di Donatello 2008 I Vicerè Best Actor Globo d'oro, Italy 2008 I Vicerè Best Actor Filmography Film Year Film Role Director 1959 Ben-Hur Jewish Slave in the Desert (uncredited) William Wyler 1961 Divorce, Italian Style Rosario Mulè Pietro Germi 1962 His Days Are Numbered Son of Cesare Elio Petri 1963 The Eye of the Needle carabiniere Sanfilippo Marcello Andrei 1963 The Girl from Parma Michele Pantanò Antonio Pietrangeli 1963 Le monachine Amilcare Franzetti Luciano Salce 1963 I mostri Luciana's Husband (segment "Come un padre") Dino Risi 1964 Extraconjugal Roberto (segment "La doccia") Massimo Franciosa 1964 Le corniaud the barber 1964 Corpse for the Lady Enzo Mario Mattoli 1964 Seduced and Abandoned Antonio Ascalone Pietro Germi 1964 Love in Four Dimensions Sicilian husband Mino Guerrini (segment "Amore e alfabeto") 1964 I marziani hanno dodici mani Lo sposo Castellano & Pipolo 1964 Love and Marriage (segment "La prima notte") Mino Guerrini and Gianni Puccini 1964 The Magnificent Cuckold Guardian Antonio Pietrangeli 1965 Su e giù Cuccio (segment "Questione di Principo") Mino Guerrini 1965 Letti sbagliati (segment "Il complicato") Steno 1965 James Tont operazione U.N.O. James Tont Bruno Corbucci 1965 James Tont operazione D.U.E. James Tont Bruno Corbucci 1965 The Sucker Lino Gérard Oury 1965 The Double Bed Birolli Jean Delannoy, François Dupont-Midi, Alvaro Mancori and Gianni Puccini 1965 Made in Italy Giulio (segment "Usi e costumi") Nanni Loy 1966 For a Few Dollars Less Bill Mario Mattoli 1966 Ringo and Gringo Against All Serg. Gringo Bruno Corbucci 1966 Our Husbands Ragionier Manzi (segment "Il Marito di Olga") Luigi Filippo D'Amico, Dino Risi and Luigi Zampa 1966 After the Fox Police Chief Vittorio De Sica 1967 Spia, spione Carlo Barazzetti Bruno Corbucci 1967 A Rose for Everyone Lino Franco Rossi 1967 Don Juan in Sicily Giovanni Percolla Alberto Lattuada 1967 Operation St. Peter's Napoleone Lucio Fulci 1967 Anyone Can Play Blackmailer Luigi Zampa 1968 Colpo di sole ? Mino Guerrini 1968 Better a Widow Massito Duccio Tessari 1968 Criminal Affair Esteban de Flori Rossano Brazzi 1969 Puro siccome un angelo papà mi fece monaco... di Monza Nunzio di Licordia Giovanni Grimaldi 1969 La donna a una dimensione Host on TV (uncredited) Bruno Baratti 1969 House of Pleasure Count Lombardini Franz Antel 1969 Monte Carlo or Bust! Marcello Ken Annakin 1970 Un caso di coscienza Salvatore Vaccagnino Giovanni Grimaldi 1970 Il debito coniugale Orazio Franco Prosperi 1970 Fermate il mondo...voglio scendere! Ricky Ceciarelli Giancarlo Cobelli 1970 When Women Had Tails Kao Pasquale Festa Campanile 1970 The Swinging Confessors Don Salvatore Marco Vicario 1970 La prima notte del Dottor Danieli, industriale col complesso del... giocattolo Carlo Danieli Giovanni Grimaldi 1970 Nel giorno del Signore Pietro Bruno Corbucci 1971 The Blonde in the Blue Movie Rosario Trapanese Steno 1971 Man of the Year Michele Cannaritta Marco Vicario 1971 Secret Fantasy Niccolò Vivaldi Pasquale Festa Campanile 1971 The Beasts Various characters Giovanni Grimaldi 1972 The Eroticist Giacinto "Gianni" Puppis Lucio Fulci 1972 When Women Lost Their Tails Ham Pasquale Festa Campanile 1972 Il sindacalista Saverio Ravizzi Luciano Salce 1972 La calandria Lidio Pasquale Festa Campanile 1972 L'uccello migratore Andrea Pomeraro Steno 1973 My Darling Slave Demetrio Cultrera Giorgio Capitani 1973 Il magnate Furio Cicerone Giovanni Grimaldi 1973 Io e lui Rico Luciano Salce 1974 L'arbitro Carmelo Lo Cascio Luigi Filippo D'Amico 1974 Il domestico Rosario "Sasà" Cabaduni Luigi Filippo D'Amico 1975 Il fidanzamento Luigi Mannozzi Giovanni Grimaldi 1975 Il gatto mammone Lollo Mascalucia Nando Cicero 1975 Dracula in the Provinces Cav. Costante Nicosia Lucio Fulci 1976 San Pasquale Baylonne protettore delle donne Giuseppe Cicerchia Luigi Filippo D'Amico 1978 Travolto dagli affetti familiari Memé Di Costanzo Mauro Severino 1980 Prestami tua moglie Alex Fortini Giuliano Carnimeo 1982 I'm Going to Live by Myself Giuseppe Marco Risi 1987 Secondo Ponzio Pilato Valerian Luigi Magni 1994 Once a Year, Every Year Giuseppe Marco Risi 2000 Il segreto del giaguaro Mazzaro Antonello Fassari 2007 I Vicerè Prince Giacomo Roberto Faenza 2017 Chi salverà le rose? Claudio Cesare Furesi

Television Year Title Role Notes 1970 Signore e signora 1988 Cinema 1999 Cornetti al miele 2003 Una famiglia per caso 2005 Il cielo può attendere 2005 Mio figlio 2007 Clare and Francis 2007 La baronessa di Carini 2010 Lo scandalo della Banca Romana 2010 Capri season 3 2010 Io e mio figlio - Nuove storie per il commissario Vivaldi Federico Vivaldi 2012–2014 Il Restauratore Basilio Corsi season 1–2 (28 episodes) 2012 Terra ribelle – Il nuovo mondo Alfredo Malagridas season 2 2013 Donne in gioco 2016 Ballando con le stelle Ballando con le Stelle (series 11) 2017 Meglio tardi che mai 2019 W Gli Sposi Reverendo