Vittorio Gassman


Vittorio Gassman, popularly known as Il Mattatore, was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter.
He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions as well as dozens of divertissements.

Early life

Gassman was born in Genoa to a German father, Heinrich Gassmann, and an Italian Jewish mother, Luisa Ambron, born in Pisa. While still very young, he moved to Rome, where he studied at the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Career

Gassman's stage debut was in Milan, in 1942, with Alda Borelli in Niccodemi's La Nemica. He then moved to Rome and acted at the Teatro Eliseo joining Tino Carraro and Ernesto Calindri in a stage company that remained famous for some time; with them he acted in a range of plays from bourgeois comedy to sophisticated intellectual theatre. In 1946, he made his film debut in Preludio d'amore, while only one year later he appeared in five films. In 1948, he played in Bitter Rice.
It was with Luchino Visconti's company that Gassman achieved his mature successes, together with Paolo Stoppa, Rina Morelli and Paola Borboni. He played Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' Un tram che si chiama desiderio, as well as in Come vi piace by Shakespeare and Oreste. He joined the Teatro Nazionale with Tommaso Salvini, Massimo Girotti, Arnoldo Foà to create a successful Peer Gynt. With Luigi Squarzina in 1952 he co-founded and co-directed the Teatro d'Arte Italiano, producing the first complete version of Hamlet in Italy, followed by rare works such as Seneca's Thyestes and Aeschylus's The Persians.
In 1956, Gassman played the title role in a production of Othello. He was so well received by his acting in the television series entitled that "Il Mattatore" became the nickname that accompanied him for the rest of his life. Gassman's debut in the commedia all'italiana genre was rather accidental, in Mario Monicelli's Big Deal on Madonna Street. The Istituto Italiano di Cultura in London describes the film as "considered among the masterpieces of Italian cinema … The careers of both Gassman and Mastroianni were considerably helped by the success of the film, Gassman in particular, since before this point he was not deemed suitable for comedic roles."
Subsequent acclaimed films featuring Gassman include: The Easy Life, The Great War, I mostri, For Love and Gold, Scent of a Woman and We All Loved Each Other So Much.
He directed Adelchi, a lesser-known work by Alessandro Manzoni. Gassman brought this production to half a million spectators, crossing Italy with his Teatro Popolare Itinerante. His productions have included many of the famous authors and playwrights of the 20th century, with repeated returns to the classics of Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky and the Greek tragicians. He also founded a theatre school in Florence, which educated many of the more talented actors of the current generation of Italian thespians.
In cinema, he worked frequently both in Italy and abroad. He met and fell in love with American actress Shelley Winters while she was touring Europe with fiancé Farley Granger. When Winters was forced to return to Hollywood to fulfil contractual obligations, he followed her there and married her. With his natural charisma and his fluency in English, he scored a number of roles in Hollywood, including Rhapsody with Elizabeth Taylor and The Glass Wall before returning to Italy and the theatre.
In the 1990s he took part in the popular Italian Rai 3 TV show Tunnel in which he very formally and "seriously"' recited documents such as utility bills, yellow pages and similar trivial texts, such as washing instructions for a wool sweater or cookies ingredients. He rendered them with the same professional skill that made him famous while reciting Dante's Divine Comedy.
In 1994, Gassman voiced Mufasa in the Italian dubbed version of The Lion King. Gassman's voice was redubbed in several of his films by historical Italian actors and dubbers which include Emilio Cigoli, Sandro Ruffini, Gualtiero De Angelis, Stefano Sibaldi, Enrico Maria Salerno and Pino Locchi.

Personal life

Gassman married three times, all to actresses: Nora Ricci ; Shelley Winters ; and .
While rehearsing Hamlet, he began an affair with Anna Maria Ferrero, his 16-year-old Ophelia, which ended his marriage to Winters. He and Winters were forced to work together on Mambo just as their marriage was unraveling, providing fodder for tabloids all over the world.
From 1964 to 1968 he was the partner of French actress Juliette Mayniel. Through Alessandro, he is the grandfather of singer-songwriter Leo Gassmann.
Gassman suffered from bipolar disorder.

Death

On 29 June 2000, Gassman died of a heart attack in his sleep at his home in Rome at the age of 77. He was buried at Campo Verano.

Filmography

Actor

Incontro con Laura The Captain's Daughter as SvabrinLove Prelude as DavideThe Adventures of Pinocchio as The Green FishermanDaniele Cortis as Daniele CortisThe Wandering Jew as Mathieu Nahum / Mathieu Blumenthal The Mysterious Rider as Giacomo CasanovaBitter Rice as WalterUna voce nel tuo cuore as Paolo BaldiniThe Wolf of the Sila as Pietro CampoloStreets of Sorrow as GiorgioThe Outlaws, as TuriHawk of the Nile as YussufThe Lion of Amalfi as MauroDouble Cross as Renato SalviThe Black Crown as MauricioAnna as VittorioThe Dream of Zorro as Don Antonio / JuanGirls Marked Danger as MicheleThe Glass Wall as Peter KubanSombrero as Alejandro CastilloCry of the Hunted as JoryRhapsody as Paul BronteMambo as Mario RossiBeautiful but Dangerous as Prince SergeiThe Violent Patriot as Giovanni delle Bande NereWar and Peace as Anatole KuraginDifendo il mio amore as Giovanni MarchiKean: Genius or Scoundrel as Edmund KeanBig Deal on Madonna Street as Peppe il panteraThe Love Specialist as Piero di MontalcinoTempest as ProsecutorThe Great War as Giovanni BusaccaThe Miracle as GuidoLa cambiale as MicheleLe sorprese dell'amore as The Schoolteacher Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti as Peppe er panteraLove and Larceny as Gerardo LatiniCrimen as Remo CaprettiGhosts of Rome as Giovanni Battista Villari, aka 'il Caparra'A Difficult Life as himself The Last Judgment as CiminoThe Italian Brigands as O CaporaleBarabbas as SahakAnima nera as Adriano ZucchelliThe Shortest Day The Easy Life as Bruno CortonaMarch on Rome as Domenico RocchettiOf Wayward Love as L'avvocato The Eye of the Needle as Giorgio Mazzanò - lawyerIl Successo as Giulio CerianiI Mostri as The Actor / Policeman / Production Assistant & Director / Nicola / Blonde Latin Lover / Lawyer D'Amore / Richetto / Roberto / Elisa / The Road Hog / The Friar / Artemio AltidoriShivers in Summer as Captain Mario NardoniLet's Talk About Women as Stranger / Practical Joker / Client / Lover / Impatient Lover / Waiter / Timid Brother / Ragman / PrisonerIl Gaucho as Marco RavicchioHard Time for Princes as GiulianoThe Dirty Game as Perego / Ferrari Slalom as Lucio RidolfiA Maiden for a Prince as Prince Don Vincenzo GonzagaFor Love and Gold as Brancaleone da NorciaPleasant Nights as Bastiano da SangalloThe Devil in Love as BelfagorThe Tiger and the Pussycat as Francesco VincenziniWoman Times Seven as Cenci Ghosts – Italian Style as Pasquale LojaconoCatch as Catch Can as Bob ChiaramonteMr. Kinky as Pietro BrecciaThe Black Sheep as Mario Agasti / Filippo AgastiAlibi as VittorioWhere Are You Going All Naked? as Rufus ConfortiThe Thirteen Chairs as Mario BerettiThe Archangel as Furio BertucciaLet's Have a Riot as RiccardoThe Divorce as Leonardo NenciBrancaleone at the Crusades as Brancaleone da NorciaScipio the African as Cato the CensorIn the Name of the Italian People as Lorenzo SantenocitoWithout Family as Armando ZavanattiThe Audience as Prince DonatiWhat Am I Doing in the Middle of a Revolution? as Guido GuidiLa Tosca as ScarpiaScent of a Woman as Captain Fausto ConsoloWe All Loved Each Other So Much as Gianni PeregoThe Immortal Bachelor as Andrea SansoniThe Career of a Chambermaid as Franco DenzaPure as a Lily as Anthony M. WilsonGoodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen as CIA Agent / TuttumpezzoThe Desert of the Tartars as Colonel Giovanbattista FilimoreThe Forbidden Room as Fabio StolzI nuovi mostri as Cardinal / Waiter / Husband / Police Commissioner / Family Man A Wedding as Luigi CorelliQuintet as St. ChristopherDear Father as Albino MillozzaHappy Hobos as Pippo MifàI'm Photogenic as himself La terrazza as MarioThe Nude Bomb as Sauvage / Nino Salvatori SebastianiCamera d'albergo as Achille MengaroniIl turno as Ciro CoppaSharky's Machine as Albert Scarelli / Victor D'AntonDi padre in figlio as himselfTempest as AlonzoCount Tacchia as Prince Torquato TerenziLife Is a Bed of Roses as Walter GuariniBenvenuta as Livio CarpiPower of Evil as GottfriedBig Deal After 20 Years as Peppe il panteraThe Family as Carlo / Carlo's grandfatherThe Rogues as Marquis Felipe de AragonaMortacci as DomenicoThe Sleazy Uncle as Uncle LucaThe Palermo Connection as the PrinceI'll Be Going Now as Augusto Scribani1001 Nights as SinbadThe Amusements of Private Life as MarquisRossini! Rossini! as Ludwig van Beethoven The Long Winter as ClaudioWhen We Were Repressed as The SexologistAbraham as TerahOnce a Year, Every Year as GiuseppeSleepers as Benny 'King Benny'Desert of Fire as TarekUn homme digne de confiance as Adriano VenturiThe Dinner as Maestro PezzulloLa bomba as Don Vito BracaloneLuchino Visconti as himself

Director

Kean: Genius or Scoundrel Alibi Without Family
  • ''Di padre in figlio''

Dubbing roles

Animation

Live action

Writer

Luca de' Numeri. Novel, in 1947, won the Fogazzaro prize, published in 1965.Un grande avvenire dietro le spalle. Milan. Longanesi & C.Vocalizzi. Milan. Longanesi & C.Memorie del sottoscala. Milan. Longanesi & C.

Audiobooks

  • CL 0426 – Antologia moderna – Ungaretti, Cardarelli, Palazzeschi, Montale, Quasimodo.
  • CL 0401 – Dante Alighieri – Inferno canto quinto.
  • CL 0437 – Dante Alighieri – Inferno canto XXVI.
  • CL 0402 – Dante Alighieri – Paradiso canto XXXIII.
  • CL 0457 – Elogio Olimpico – Poesie sportive.
  • CL 0459 – Eschilo – Coefore – with Valentina Fortunato and Maria Fabbri.
  • CL 0438 – Foscolo – Sepolcri.
  • CL 0439 – Leopardi – Poesie
  • CL 0440 – Leopardi – Poesie.
  • CL 0458 – Manzoni – Adelchi, with Carlo D'Angelo.
  • CL 0414 – Manzoni – Promessi sposi.
  • CL 0416 – Manzoni – Il cinque maggio.
  • CL 0441 – Mistici del '200.
  • CL 0470 – Pascarella – Sonetti.
  • CL 0417 – Pascoli – Poesie.
  • CL 0420 – Saba – Poesie.
  • CL 0415 – Shakespeare – Amleto.
  • CL 0427 – Sonetti attraverso i secoli.
  • CL 0443 – Gassman nel Mattatore prose varie.
  • CL 0444 – Gassman nel Mattatore prose varie.
  • CLV 0604 – Shakespeare – Otello.
  • CLV 0607 – Irma la dolce.
  • CLV 0609 – Gassman – Il Mattatore prose varie.