Vittorio Gassman Knight Grand Cross OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [vitˈtɔːrjo ˈɡazman]; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), 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.
Gassman's debut was in Milan, in 1942, with Alda Borelli in Niccodemi's La Nemica (theatre). He then moved to Rome and acted at the Teatro Eliseo joining Tino Carraro and Ernesto Calindri in a team 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 Riso amaro.
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 (A Streetcar Named Desire), as well as in Come vi piace (As You Like It) by Shakespeare and Oreste (by Vittorio Alfieri). He joined the Teatro Nazionale with Tommaso Salvini, Massimo Girotti, Arnoldo Foà to create a successful Peer Gynt (by Henrik Ibsen). 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 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 fulfill 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.
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.
2021 | Noi siamo cinema as Self (archive footage) |
2021 | Trintignant par Trintignant as Self (archive footage) |
2021 | Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita as Self (archive footage) |
2018 | Sono Gassman! - Vittorio re della commedia as Self |
2015 | Marcello Mastroianni, l'Italien idéal as Self (archive footage) |
2015 | Vittorio Gassman, le flamboyant as Self |
2012 | Close Up as Self (archive footage) |
2012 | Monicelli: La versione di Mario as Self (archive footage) |
2010 | Vittorio racconta Gassman: Una vita da mattatore as Self (archive footage) |
2007 | Dino Risi, le pessimiste joyeux de la comédie italienne as Self |
2006 | Adolfo Celi, un uomo per due culture as Self (archive footage) |
1999 | La bomba as Don Vito Bracalone |
1999 | Luchino Visconti as Self |
1998 | La cena as maestro Pezzullo |
1997 | Deserto di fuoco as Tareq |
1996 | Kardeş Gibiydiler as King Benny |
1994 | Tutti gli anni una volta l'anno as Giuseppe |
1993 | Abraham as Terach |
1992 | El largo invierno as Claudio, El Mayordomo |
1992 | Quando eravamo repressi as The Sexologist |
1991 | Rossini! Rossini! as Ludwig van Beethoven |
1991 | Tolgo il disturbo as Augusto Scribani |
1990 | I divertimenti della vita privata as Marquis |
1990 | Les 1001 Nuits : Version Intégrale as Sinbad |
1990 | Les 1001 nuits as Sinbad |
1990 | Dimenticare Palermo as Il principe |
1989 | Lo zio indegno as Zio Luca |
1989 | Mortacci as Domenico |
1988 | L'altro enigma as Il padre / Sofocle |
1987 | I picari as Marquis Felipe de Aragona |
1987 | La famiglia as Carlo as a man / Carlo's grandfather |
1985 | I soliti ignoti vent'anni dopo as Peppe |
1985 | Le pouvoir du mal as Gottfried |
1985 | To Be Hamlet as Self |
1983 | Benvenuta as Livio |
1983 | Yaşam Bir Romandır as Walter Guarini |
1982 | Il conte Tacchia as Prince Torquato Terenzi |
1982 | Tempest as Alonzo |
1982 | Di padre in figlio as Self |
1981 | Sharky's Machine as Victor Scorelli |
1981 | Il turno as Ciro Coppa |
1981 | Camera d'albergo as Achille Mengaroni |
1980 | The Nude Bomb as Sauvage / Nino Salvatori Sebastiani |
1980 | Sono fotogenico as Vittorio Gassman (uncredited) |
1980 | La terrazza as Mario |
1979 | Caro papà as Albino Millozza |
1979 | Quintet as Saint Christopher |
1979 | Due pezzi di pane as Pippo Mifà |
1978 | A Wedding as Luigi Corelli |
1977 | I nuovi mostri as il cardinale/il cameriere/il marito/il commissario/il padre di famiglia |
1977 | Edipo Re as Edipo |
1977 | Anima Persa as Fabio Stolz |
1976 | Tatar Çölü as Filimore |
1976 | Signore e signori, buonanotte as Ispettore Tuttunpezzo / Allievo |
1976 | Come una rosa al naso as Anthony M. Wilson |
1976 | Telefoni bianchi as Franco Denza |
1975 | E il Casanova di Fellini? as Self |
1975 | A mezzanotte va la ronda del piacere as Andrea Sansoni |
1974 | Birbirimizi Öyle Çok Sevmiştik Ki as Gianni Perego |
1974 | Profumo di donna as Fausto Consolo |
1973 | La Tosca as Scarpia |
1972 | Che c'entriamo noi con la rivoluzione? as Guido Guidi |
1972 | L'udienza as Principe Donati |
1972 | Senza famiglia, nullatenenti cercano affetto as Armando Zavanatti |
1971 | In nome del popolo italiano as Lorenzo Santenocito |
1971 | Scipione detto anche l'Africano as Catone il Censore |
1970 | Brancaleone alle crociate as Brancaleone Da Norcia |
1970 | Il divorzio as Leonardo Nenci |
1970 | Contestazione generale as Riccardo |
1970 | L'uomo dal fiore in bocca as L'uomo dal fiore in bocca |
1969 | 12 + 1 as Mario Beretti |
1969 | Dove vai tutta nuda? as Rufus Conforti |
1969 | L'arcangelo as Furio Bertuccia |
1969 | L'Alibi as Vittorio |
1968 | La pecora nera as Mario Agasti / Filippo Agasti |
1968 | Il Profeta as Pietro Breccia |
1967 | Questi fantasmi as Pasquale Lojacono |
1967 | Lo scatenato as Bob Chiaramonte |
1967 | Yedi Kere Kadın as Cenci |
1967 | Il Tigre as Francesco Vincenzini |
1966 | L'arcidiavolo as Belfagor |
1966 | Le piacevoli notti as Bastiano da Sangallo |
1966 | L'armata Brancaleone as Brancaleone da Norcia |
1965 | Io la conoscevo bene as Vittorio Gassman - in Film Clip (archive footage) (uncredited) |
1965 | Una vergine per il principe as Principe Vincenzo Gonzaga |
1965 | Slalom as Lucio Ridolfi |
1965 | The Dirty Game as Perego / Ferrari |
1964 | La congiuntura as Giuliano |
1964 | Il gaucho as Marco Ravicchio |
1964 | Se permettete parliamo di donne as Straniero / Practical Joker / Cliente / Amante / Amante impaziente / Cameriere / Fratello timido / Rigattiere / Prigioniero |
1964 | Frenesia dell'estate as Cap. Nardoni |
1963 | I mostri as The Actor (segment "La Raccomandazione") / Policeman (segment "Il Mostro") / Production Assistant & Movie Director (segment "Presa dalla Vita") / Nicola (segment "Che Vitaccia!") / Blonde Latin Lover (segment "Latin Lovers-Amanti latini") / Defence Layer D'Amore (segment "Testimone volontario") / Richetto (segment "I due Orfanelli") / Roberto (segment "Il Sacrificato") / Elisa (segment "La Musa") / The Road Hog (segment "La Strada è di Tutti") / The Friar (segment "Il Testamento di Francesco") / Artemio Altidori (segment "La nobile Arte") |
1963 | Il successo as Giulio Ceriani |
1963 | La smania addosso as Giorgio Mazzanò, lawyer |
1962 | L'amore difficile as L'avvocato (segment "L'avaro") |
1962 | La marcia su Roma as Domenico Rocchetti |
1962 | Gamsız Hayat as Bruno Cortona |
1962 | Anima nera as Adriano Zucchelli |
1961 | Barabbas as Sahak |
1961 | Una vita difficile as Self (uncredited) |
1961 | I briganti italiani as O Caporale |
1961 | Il giudizio universale as Cimino |
1961 | Fantasmi a Roma as Il Caparra |
1960 | Crimen as Remo |
1960 | Il mattatore as Gerardo Latini |
1959 | Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti as Giuseppe "Peppe er Pantera" Baiocchi |
1959 | La cambiale as Michele |
1959 | The Miracle as Guido |
1959 | La grande guerra as Giovanni Busacca |
1958 | La tempesta as Prosecutor |
1958 | Bilinmeyen Kişiler as Peppe il pantera |
1957 | La ragazza del palio as Piero di Montalcino |
1957 | Kean - Genio e sregolatezza as Edmund Kean |
1956 | Giovanni dalle Bande Nere as Giovanni De Medici |
1956 | Difendo il mio amore as Giovanni Marchi |
1956 | Savaş ve Barış as Anatol Kuragin |
1955 | La donna più bella del mondo as Prince Sergei |
1955 | Amleto as Amleto |
1954 | Mambo as Mario Rossi |
1954 | Rhapsody as Paul Bronte |
1953 | Cry of the Hunted as Jory |
1953 | Sombrero as Alejandro Castillo |
1953 | The Glass Wall as Peter Kuban |
1952 | La tratta delle bianche as Michele |
1952 | Il sogno di Zorro as Don Juan Antonio |
1951 | Anna as Vittorio |
1951 | La corona negra as Mauricio |
1951 | Il tradimento as Renato Salvi |
1950 | Il leone di Amalfi as Mauro |
1950 | Lo sparviero del Nilo as Yussuf |
1950 | I fuorilegge as Turi |
1950 | Ho sognato il paradiso as Giorgio |
1949 | Il lupo della Sila as Pietro Campolo (as Vittorio Gassmann) |
1949 | Riso amaro as Walter |
1948 | Il cavaliere misterioso as Giacomo Casanova, cavaliere di Seingalt |
1948 | L'ebreo errante as Mathieu Blumenthal |
1947 | La figlia del capitano as Svabrin |
1947 | Daniele Cortis as Daniele Cortis |
1947 | Le avventure di Pinocchio as Hässlicher Fischer / Il Pescatore verde |
1946 | Preludio d'amore |
1945 | Incontro con Laura |
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