Nino Manfredi

Saturnino "Nino" Manfredi (22 March 1921 – 4 June 2004) was an Italian actor, voice actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, comedian, singer, author, radio personality and television presenter.

He was one of the most prominent Italian actors in the commedia all'italiana genre. During his career he won several awards, including six David di Donatello awards, six Nastro d'Argento awards and the Prix de la première oeuvre (Best First Work Award) at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival for Between Miracles. Typically playing losers, marginalised, working-class characters yet "in possession of their dignity, morality, and underlying optimism", he was referred to as "one of the few truly complete actors in Italian cinema". His father recruited in Public Safety, where he reached the rank of Maresciallo, and in the early 1930s, he was transferred to Rome, where Nino and his younger brother Dante spent their childhood in the popular neighborhood of San Giovanni. he remained several years hospitalized in a sanatorium; there he learned to play a banjo built by himself and he entered the musical band of the hospital.

Commedia all'italiana icon

Starting from the second half of the 1960s, Manfredi became a top actor at the Italian box office, starring in some of the most successful and critically acclaimed films in the Commedia all'italiana genre, often directed by Dino Risi. In 1969, with Nell'anno del Signore, he started a fruitful collaboration with the director Luigi Magni. In 1971, he made his feature film debut as director with the semi-autobiographical Between Miracles, with which he got almost unanimous critical acclaim, winning the Best Film Work Award at the Cannes Film Festival, the Italian Golden Globe for Best First Feature, two Silver Ribbons (for best screenplay and best original story) and a special David di Donatello. In the 1970s and early 1980s, he continued alternating high-profile works and less ambitious comedies; among the most successful performances of the time, the emarginated immigrant of Bread and Chocolate (1973), the idealist worker of We All Loved Each Other So Much (1974), the old shanty town patriarch of Down and Dirty (1976), the Vatican's magistrate of In the Name of the Pope King (1977), the abusive coffee-seller in Café Express (1980). In 1993, during the shooting of Un commissario a Roma, he suffered a hypoxia which compromised his memory functions. Starting from Un commissario a Roma his popularity revamped thanks to a series of successful RAI TV-series and miniseries, notably Linda e il brigadiere. In August, he received a Career Bianchi Prize at the Venice Film Festival. In September, an improvement allowed him to return home, but in December, he was hit by a new cerebral haemorrhage.

Personal life

Manfredi was married to model Erminia Ferrari from 1955 till his death. The couple had a son, Luca (who is a film and television director), and two daughters, Roberta (an actress, television presenter and producer) and Giovanna. He was an atheist. Active in volunteering, in 1991, he was nominated Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. In 2009, a Nino Manfredi Prize was established at the Nastro d’Argento Awards. Manfredi also named a theatre in Ostia, Rome.

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his death, in 2014, Manfredi was remembered by "Nino!", a series of events, held in various places including Los Angeles, New York, Rome and Paris, which included retrospectives, exhibitions, and the staging of an unreleased play of Manfredi.

In 2017, his son Luca Manfredi directed a biographical film about Manfredi's early years, In arte Nino; Manfredi was played by Elio Germano, while Miriam Leone played his wife Erminia.

Filmography Cinema

The Monastery of Santa Chiara (1949) as Enrico Return to Naples (1949) as Francisco My Heart Sings (1951) as Enrico Viva il cinema! (1952) as Tonino's friend Good Folk's Sunday (1953) as Lello I Chose Love (1953) Prisoner in the Tower of Fire (1953) as Stornello Cavalcade of Song (1953) Laugh! Laugh! Laugh! (1954) as Signore che non vuole pagare (segment "Al Night Club Bar Zellette") Scandal in Sorrento (1955) as Sindaco di Sorrento (voice, uncredited) Non scherzare con le donne (1955) as Tifoso ciclista Revelation (1955) as Mario Giorgi Lo scapolo (1955) as Peppino Wild Love (1956) as Otello – il parrucchiere Guardia, guardia scelta, brigadiere e maresciallo (1956) as Paolo Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy (1956) as Raffaele, Gianni's friend Time of Vacation (1956) as Carletto Susanna Whipped Cream (1957) as Un ladro Femmine tre volte, (1957) as Nando Martinoni Camping (1958) as Nino (1958) as Pilota Adorabili e bugiarde (1958) as Mario Venice, the Moon and You (1958) as Toni Il bacio del sole (Don Vesuvio) (1958) Caporale di giornata (1958) as Corporal Enea Serafini Maid, Thief and Guard (1958) as Otello Cucchiaroni Carmela è una bambola (1958) as Antonio 'Totò' Improta I ragazzi dei Parioli (1959) as Giuseppe Spallotta Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti (1959) as Ugo Nardi aka Piede Amaro The Employee (1960) as Ferdinando 'Nando' Guida Toto, Fabrizi and the Young People Today (1960) (voice, uncredited) Le pillole di Ercole (1960) as dottor Pasqui Crimen (1960) as Quirino Filonzi Il carabiniere a cavallo (1961) as Franco Bartolucci The Last Judgment (1961) as Waiter On the Tiger's Back (1961) as Giacinto Rossi Roaring Years (1962) as Omero Battifiori I motorizzati (1962) as Nino Borsetti Of Wayward Love (1962) as the soldier (segment "L'avventura di un soldato") The Girl from Parma (1963) as Nino Meciotti The Executioner (1963) as José Luis Rodríguez I cuori infranti (1963) as Quirino (segment "E vissero felici") High Infidelity (1964) as Francesco (segment "Scandaloso") Il Gaucho (1964) as Stefano Countersex (1964) as Sandro Cioffi (segment "Cocaina di domenica") / Spadini (segment "Una donna d'affari") Le bambole (1965) as Giorgio (segment "La telefonata") Questa volta parliamo di uomini (1965) as Federico (segment "Un uomo d'onore"), Morgas (segment "Il lanciatore di coltelli"), Raffaelle (segment "Un uomo superiore"), Salvatore (segment "Un brav'uomo") I complessi (1965) as Quirino Raganelli (segment "Una Giornata decisiva") Thrilling (1965) as Nanni Galassi (segment "Il vittimista") I Knew Her Well (1965) as Cianfanna Made in Italy (1965) as Attilio Lamborecchia (segment "4 'Cittadini, stato e chiesa', episode 1") Me, Me, Me... and the Others (1966) as 'Millevache' Adultery Italian Style (1966) as Franco Finali Treasure of San Gennaro (1966) as Armandino Girasole / Dudu A Rose for Everyone (1967) as The doctor The Head of the Family (1967) as Marco Italian Secret Service (1968) as Natale Tartufato aka Capellone Torture Me But Kill Me with Kisses (1968) as Marino Balestrini Will Our Heroes Be Able to Find Their Friend Who Has Mysteriously Disappeared in Africa? (1968) as Oreste Sabatini I See Naked (1969) as Cacopardo / Angelo Perfili / Ercole / Voyeur / Phone-technician / Maurizio / Nanni The Conspirators (1969) as Cornacchia Operation Snafu (1970) as Rosolino Paternò Let's Have a Riot (1970) as Beretta (segment "Concerto a tre pifferi") Between Miracles (1971) as Benedetto Parisi Roma Bene (1971) as Il Commissario Quintilio Tartamella Trastevere (1971) as Carmelo Mazzullo In Love, Every Pleasure Has Its Pain (1971) as Nale The Assassin of Rome (1972) as Gino Girolimoni Lo chiameremo Andrea (1972) as Paolo Antonazzi Bread and Chocolate (1974) as Giovanni 'Nino' Garofoli We All Loved Each Other So Much (1974) as Antonio Eye of the Cat (1975) as Marcello Ferrari Down and Dirty (1975) as Giacinto Mazzatella Goodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen (1976) as Cardinale Caprettari (segment "Il Santo Soglio") Basta che non si sappia in giro (1976) as Enzo Lucarelli (segment "Il superiore") / Paolo Gallizzi (segment "L'equivoco") Strange Occasion (1976) as Antonio Pecoraro (segment "Cavalluccio Svedese, Il") In the Name of the Pope King (1977) as Monsignor Colombo da Privano The Payoff (1978) as Sasà Iovine A Dangerous Toy (1979) as Vittorio Barletta Gros-Câlin (1979) as Parisi Café Express (1980) as Michele Abbagnano Portrait of a Woman, Nude (1981) as Sandro Spaghetti House (1982) as Domenico Ceccacci Heads I Win, Tails You Lose (1982) as Beduino Questo e Quello (1983) as Doctor (segment "Questo... amore impossibile") / Alessandro Cipollini (segment "Quello... col basco rosso") Il tenente dei carabinieri (1986) as Colonnello Vinci Grandi magazzini (1986) as Marco Salviati Secondo Ponzio Pilato (1987) as Ponzio Pilato Helsinki Napoli All Night Long (1987) as Grandpa The Rogues (1987) as Il cieco Alberto Express (1990) as Le père d'Alberto In the Name of the Sovereign People (1991) as Angelo Brunetti, also known as Ciceruacchio Mima (1991) as Grandpa Colpo di luna (1995) as Salvatore The Flying Dutchman (1995) as Campanelli Grazie di tutto (1999) as Pietro La Carbonara (1999) as Cardinale Una milanese a Roma (2001) as Giordano Apri gli occhi e... sogna (2002) as Il barbone The End of a Mystery (2003) as Galapago L'apetta Giulia e la signora Vita (2003) as Bobo (voice) (final film role)

Television

The Adventures of Pinocchio (1972) as Geppetto La vita di Gesù (1975) Julianus barát (1991) as Endre the Second Un commissario a Roma (series, 1992) as Commissario Franco Amidei Linda e il brigadiere (series, 1997) as Nino Fogliani Linda e il brigadiere 2 (series, 1998) as Nino Fogliani Dio ci ha creato gratis (1998) as Cardinal Forseca Linda, il brigadiere e... (series, 1999) as Nino Fogliani Meglio tardi che mai (1999) as Antonio Di Carlo Una storia qualunque (2000) as Michele Le ragioni del cuore (2002) Un difetto di famiglia (2002) as Francesco Gammarota Chiaroscuro (2003) as Sor Peppe La notte di Pasquino (2003) as Pasquino Un posto tranquillo (2003) as Padre Roberto

Director Of Wayward Love (segment "L'avventura di un soldato", 1962) Between Miracles (Per grazia ricevuta, 1970) Nudo di donna (1981)