Adolfo Celi
Adolfo Celi was an Italian film actor and director. Born in Curcuraci, Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 films, specialising in international villains. Although a prominent actor in Italian cinema and famed for many roles, he is best remembered internationally for his portrayal of Emilio Largo in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball. Celi later spoofed his Thunderball role in the film OK Connery opposite Sean Connery's brother, Neil Connery.
Life and career
Celi became a film actor in post-war Italy. He left the Italian film industry when he emigrated to Brazil where he co-founded the Teatro Brasileiro de Comédia along with the Brazilian stage greats Paulo Autran and Tônia Carrero in São Paulo. He was successful as a stage actor in Argentina and Brazil. He directed three films in South America in the 1950s, including the Brazilian hit Tico-Tico no Fubá in 1952.
Celi began a new popular career when he played the villain in Philippe de Broca's That Man from Rio, selected by de Broca on location in Rio de Janeiro. The popularity of the film led him to be cast as camp commandant Battaglia opposite Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard's Allied POWs in the 1965 Second World War escape drama Von Ryan's Express. This led him to his most well-known role as Largo in Thunderball. He is also known to international audiences as Ralph Valmont, one of the villains in the Mario Bava action thriller Danger: Diabolik and the celebrated Fernando Di Leo's poliziottesco film Hired to Kill as Don Vito Tressoldi. Celi was considered for the part of Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather, which ultimately went to Marlon Brando.
Celi appeared as a protagonist in some Italian comedies, including Amici Miei and Brancaleone alle Crociate and did some television work, notably in mini-series Petrosino, portraying the legendary Italian-American cop, and as the ruthless aristocrat, the Baron of Carini in another very popular mini-series, La Baronessa di Carini.
In addition to his native languages Sicilian and Italian, Celi was fluent in several languages, including English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese. Despite his proficiency in English, his heavy Sicilian accent meant that he was usually dubbed when he appeared in English language films; however, he was not dubbed in the 1981 BBC serial The Borgias, in which Celi played Rodrigo Borgia, with his thickly-accented English difficult for certain TV critics and viewers to understand.
Celi was married three times, including with Brazilian Tônia Carrero and Romanian Veronica Lazăr. His daughter Alessandra Celi, born to Lazăr, is also an actress. He died of a heart attack in Siena, Tuscany, in 1986.
Filmography
A Yank in Rome as TomChristmas at Camp 119 as John, il sergent americanoHey Boy Immigrants as Il professoreCaiçara as GenovésTico-Tico no Fubá Sandokan the Great as James BrookeThat Man from Rio as Mário de CastroThree Nights of Love Male Companion as BenvenutoBeautiful Families as Professore Della PortaCrime on a Summer Morning as Van WillieVon Ryan's Express as Major BattagliaThe Agony and the Ecstasy as Giovanni de' MediciSlalom as RiccardoA Man Named John as Msgr. Radini TedeschiThunderball as Emilio LargoEl Greco as Don Miguel de Las CuervasYankee as Grande ConchoTarget for Killing as Henry PerkinsPleasant Nights as BernadozzoGrand Prix as Agostini ManettaKing of Hearts as Colonel Alexander MacBibenbrookDirty Heroes as Luc RollmanMaster Stroke as Mr. BernardThe Honey Pot as Inspector RizziOK Connery as Mr. Thai – 'Beta'The Bobo as Francisco CarbonellGrand Slam as Mark MilffordFantabulous Inc. as Karl Maria van BeethovenDeath Sentence as Friar BaldwinSeven Times Seven as WardenDiabolik as Ralph ValmountIt's Your Move as Bayon / GuinetAlibi as AdolfoMidas Run as General FerrantiDetective Belli as Avvocato FontanaA Man for Emmanuelle as SandriThe Archangel as Marco Tarrochi RodaIn Search of Gregory as MaxDeath Knocks Twice as Professor Max SpiglerRendezvous with Dishonour as HermesFragment of Fear as Signor BardoniThe Cop as Le Commissaire principal / Chief of policeBrancaleone at the Crusades as Re BoemondoFinale di partita They Have Changed Their Face as Giovanni NosferatuUna chica casi decente as César Martín de Valdés 'Duque'Murders in the Rue Morgue as Inspector Vidocq1931: Once Upon a Time in New York as The PoleBrother Sun, Sister Moon as ConsulEye in the Labyrinth as FrankWho Killed the Prosecutor and Why? as Inspector VezziWho Saw Her Die? as SerafianNaked Girl Killed in the Park as Inspector HuberLong Arm of the Godfather as Don CarmeloHired to Kill as VitoHitler: The Last Ten Days as Gen. KrebsLe Mataf as Me DesbordesBlack Holiday as Commissioner RizzutoThe Devil Is a Woman as Father BorrelliThe Phantom of Liberty as Le docteur de Legendre / Doctor PasoliniAnd Then There Were None as Gen. André SalvéThe Balloon Vendor as Dr. MonforteLibera, My Love as Felice Valente – Libera's fatherMy Friends as Professor SassaroliL'amaro caso della baronessa di Carini as Don Mariano D'AgròSandokan as James BrookeLive Like a Cop, Die Like a Man as CaptainPure as a Lily as L'onorevoleConfessions of a Frustrated Housewife as Antonio LenziniGoodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen as Vladimiro PaleseThe Next Man as Al SharifThe Big Operator as RifaiMerciless Man as Commissario Lo GalloFebbre da cavallo as JudgeChe notte quella notte! The Passengers as BoetaniPane, burro e marmellata as Aristide BertelliHolocaust 2000 as Dr. KerouacLa tigre è ancora viva: Sandokan alla riscossa! as James BrookeMan of Corleone The Perfect Crime as Sir Harold BoydProfessor Kranz tedesco di Germania as CarcamanoLe braghe del padrone as Euginio – the presidentL'affittacamere Café Express as Ispettore capo MinisteroCar-napping as Head of police in PalermoMadly in Love as Gustavo VI di San TulipePerdóname, amor as Ruggero RivelliMonsignor as Cardinal VinciAll My Friends Part 2 as Professor SassaroliCinderella '80 as Principe Goncalvo GherardeschiPassaporto segnalato as Avvocato SantiAll My Friends Part 3 as Professor SassaroliIl giocatore invisibile Due assi per un turbo as Il Caposcalo