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.[1] Typically playing losers, marginalised, working-class characters yet "in possession of their dignity, morality, and underlying optimism",[2] he was referred to as "one of the few truly complete actors in Italian cinema".[2]
Life and career
Early life
Manfredi was born in Castro dei Volsci, Frosinone into a humble family of farmers.[3] 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.[3] In 1937, he became seriously ill with bilateral pleurisy, and after a doctor gave him only three months to live,[4][5] 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.[3][5] To please his family in October 1941, he enrolled at the university in the Faculty of Law, but already in the same year he showed an interest and a natural inclination for the stage, making his debut as a presenter and an actor in the theater of a parish in Rome.[3]
After 8 September 1943, in order to avoid conscription, he took refuge for a year with his brother in the mountains above Cassino;[3] returned to Rome in 1944, he resumed his university studies and, at the same time, he enrolled at the National Academy of Dramatic Art.[3] In October 1945, he graduated in law with a thesis in criminal law, without ever practicing the profession, and in June 1947, he graduated from the academy.[3]
In 1958, Manfredi got his first film roles as main actor.[3] The same year he formed a revue company with Delia Scala and Paolo Panelli, getting some success with the musical Un trapezio per Lisistrata.[3] In 1959, the trio was chosen by RAI to host Canzonissima; the show marked the turning point of the career of Manfredi, who enjoyed a very large popularity, mainly thanks to the "macchietta" (i.e. comic caricature) of the "Barman from Ceccano".[3] The success immediately got him a contract with Dino De Laurentiis which he dropped after one year to be free to choose his favorite projects.[3]
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.[3][7] In 1969, with Nell'anno del Signore, he started a fruitful collaboration with the director Luigi Magni.[3][7] In the same period he started collaborating, often uncredited, to the screenplays of his films.[3]
In 1983, he debuted as author with the book Proverbi e altre cose romanesche, while in 1984, he signed his first work as playwright and stage director (Viva gli sposi), an activity in which he gradually focused.[3] In 1990 he received a David di Donatello career award.[3] In 1992, after having first accepted to be a candidate at the elections with the Pannella List, he withdrawn the candidature to not give up his artistic commitments.[10] In 1993, during the shooting of Un commissario a Roma, he suffered a hypoxia which compromised his memory functions.[11] 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.[3][9]
Last role and death
Manfredi's last role was Galapago, an almost mute stranger with no memory in Miguel Hermoso's Spanish drama film The End of a Mystery. On 7 July 2003, a few months after the release of the film, he was struck by a cerebral infarction in his home in Rome.[12] In August, he received a Career Bianchi Prize at the Venice Film Festival.[13] In September, an improvement allowed him to return home, but in December, he was hit by a new cerebral hemorrhage.[12] After spending six months in a continuous alternation of improvements and deteriorations, he died on 4 June 2004, aged eighty-three years old.[14]
Personal life
"Viale Nino Manfredi", a street named after him in Rome
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.[3] He had another daughter, Tonina, from a Bulgarian woman.
From an early age, Manfredi suffered from a biliary disorder which forced him to a very strict diet, and his meals often consisted of just light tea or caffè d'orzo.[15] He was an atheist.[15][16] Active in volunteering, in 1991, he was nominated Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.[3]
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.[19]
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.[20][21]
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")
