Memo Benassi

Domenico "Memo" Benassi (21 June 1886 – 24 February 1957) was an Italian stage and film actor who appeared in more than forty films in a mixture of leading and supporting roles.

Life and career Born in Sorbolo, Benassi initially formed as a musician, studying cello at the Parma Conservatory. His professional acting career was launched in the late 1910s by Gualtiero Tumiati, who offered him a role in his stage company after noting him during an amateur theatrical performance. After the war, he mostly focused on his theatrical career, working with Giorgio Strehler and Luchino Visconti.

Selected filmography

Notte di tempesta (1916) Mimì e gli straccioni (1916) Il gioiello sinistro (1917) La nemica (1917) Margheritella (1918) La scala di seta (1920) The Love Letters of Baroness S (1924) - Straßenmusikant Giovanni The Adventures of Sybil Brent (1925) - Theo Hartwig, Schriftsteller The Old Lady (1932) - Joe The Lucky Diamond (1933) - Il maggiordomo The Missing Treaty (1933) - John Brown - detective The Haller Case (1933) - Judge Haller L'impiegata di papà (1934) - Banchiere Monti Everybody's Woman (1934) - Leonardo Nanni Conquest of the Air (1936) - Francesco Lama di Brescia (uncredited) Lady of Paradise (1937) - Matteo Iran Scipione l'africano (1937) - Cato Tonight at Eleven (1938) - L'ambasciatore Leopoldo Norton Princess Tarakanova (1938) - L'ambasciatore russo La conquista dell'aria (1939) - Il Gesuita Franceesco Lama Orizzonte dipinto (1941) - Il burattinaio Il vagabondo (1941) - Fanfulla The Jester's Supper (1942) - Il Tornaquinci The Two Orphans (1942) - Il conte di Linières Fedora (1942) - Il principe Yariskine Rossini (1942) - Beethoven I due Foscari (1942) - Donato Almorò Fourth Page (1942) - Il pazzo The Son of the Red Corsair (1943) - Il marchese di Montelimar Measure for Measure (1943) - Lucio Peccatori (1945) Paese senza pace (1946) - Padron Toni L'ultimo sogno (1946) The Tyrant of Padua (1946) - Cesare, il pittore La taverna della libertà (1950) The Affairs of Messalina (1951) - Claudio / Claude Red Shirts (1952) - (uncredited) Too Bad She's Bad (1954) - (uncredited) Adriana Lecouvreur (1955) - Michonnet