Ugo Tognazzi

Ottavio Ugo Tognazzi 23 March 1922 27 October 1990 was an Italian actor director and screenwriter He is considered one of the most important faces of Italian comedy together with Vittorio Gassman Nino Manfredi Marcello Mastroianni and Alberto Sordi Tognazzi was born in Cremona in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk for an insurance company After his return to his native city in 1936 he worked in a cured meats production plant where he achieved the position of accountant During World War II he was inducted into the Army and returned home after the Armistice of 8 September 1943 and joined the Black Brigades for a while His passion for theater and acting dates from his early years and also during the conflict he organized shows for his fellow soldiers In 1945 he moved to Milan where he was enrolled in the theatrical company led by Wanda Osiris A few years later he formed his own successful musical revue company In 1950 Tognazzi made his cinematic debut in The Cadets of Gascony directed by Mario Mattoli The following year he met Raimondo Vianello with whom he formed a successful comedy duo for the newborn RAI TV 19541960 Their shows sometimes containing satirical material were among the first to be censored on Italian television After the successful role in The Fascist Il Federale 1961 directed by Luciano Salce Tognazzi became one of the most renowned characters of the socalled Commedia allItaliana Italian comedy style He worked with all the main directors of Italian cinema including Mario Monicelli My Friends Marco Ferreri La Grande Bouffe Carlo Lizzani La vita agra Dino Risi Pier Paolo Pasolini Pigsty Ettore Scola Alberto Lattuada Nanni Loy Pupi Avati and others Tognazzi also directed some of his films including the 1967 film The Seventh Floor The film was entered into the 17th Berlin International Film Festival He was a wellknown actor in Italy and starred in several important international films which brought him fame in other parts of the world Roger Vadim cast Tognazzi as Mark Hand the Catchman in Barbarella 1968 He rescues Barbarella Jane Fonda from the biting dolls she encounters and after her rescue he requests payment by asking her to make love with him the oldfashioned way not the psychocardiopathic way of their future In 1981 he won the Best Male Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man directed by Bernardo Bertolucci While he worked primarily in Italian cinema Tognazzi is perhaps best remembered for his role as Renato Baldi the gay owner of a St Tropez nightclub in the 1978 French comedy La Cage aux Folles which became the highest grossing foreign film ever released in the US Tognazzi had various relationships during his life being married to actresses Margarete Robsahm and later Franca Bettoia He had four children from three different women his sons Ricky Tognazzi b 1955 and Gianmarco Tognazzi b 1967 are actors another son Thomas Robsahm b 1964 is a Norwegian film director and producer his daughter Maria Sole Tognazzi b 1971 is also a film director Source Article Ugo Tognazzi from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA