Corrado Gaipa
Corrado Gaipa was an Italian actor who specialized in films, television and dubbing.
A well known actor of Italian cinema, he was internationally known for his role as Don Tommasino in The Godfather, while his popularity in Italy was also connected to his activity as a voice dubber.
Biography
Born in Palermo, Gaipa enrolled in the Silvio d'Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he studied for three years and performed an adaptation of the play You Can't Take It with You. He then graduated in 1946. In 1948, Gaipa joined a theatre group based in Rome and began acting in radio dramas which were broadcast in many cities across Italy such as Turin, Florence and Milan. He also appeared in many films, beginning with That Splendid November. He became well known worldwide playing Don Tommasino in the 1972 film The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola.While also active on stage, radio and television, he was heavily active as a voice actor and especially as a dubber: he provided the Italian voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars original trilogy as well as Bagheera in the Italian-Language version of The Jungle Book. He also dubbed over the voices of Lionel Stander, Eli Wallach, Peter Ustinov, Rod Steiger, Orson Welles, Burt Lancaster and Spencer Tracy. Gaipa assisted with the foundation of a dubbing company in the 1970s alongside Renato Turi, Giancarlo Giannini, Valeria Valeri, Oreste Lionello and other historical Italian dubbers.