Carlo Verdone

Carlo Gregorio Verdone (born 17 November 1950) is an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director.

Carlo Verdone
Verdone in 2007
Born (1950-11-17) 17 November 1950
Rome, Italy
OccupationActor, screenwriter, director
Years active1975–present
Parent(s)Mario Verdone (father)
Rossana Schiavina (mother)
RelativesLuca Verdone (brother)
Silvia Verdone (sister)
Christian De Sica (brother-in-law)

Verdone is best known for his comedic roles in Italian classics, which he also wrote and directed. His career was jumpstarted by his first three successes, Un sacco bello (1980), Bianco, rosso e Verdone (1981) and Borotalco (1982). Since the 1990s, he has been introducing more serious subjects in his work, linked to the excesses of society and the individual's hardships in confronting it; some examples are Maledetto il giorno che t'ho incontrata (1992), Il mio miglior nemico (2006) and Io, loro e Lara (2010).

Early life

Carlo Verdone was born in Rome to Mario Verdone, an important Italian film critic and academic, and studied at the Italian Liceo classico in Rome, having the future actor Christian De Sica as his deskmate.[1] Subsequently, Verdone earned a degree in Modern Literature at Sapienza University of Rome, the same university where his father taught, and a degree in Film Direction at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. During the 1970s he started a television career highlighting his varied comic style, acting as well in some ads in the Carosello show and he started to introduce his characters on television in 1978 in the popular comedy series "Non Stop".[2]

Movie career

Verdone made his debut as a director in 1980 with the movie Un sacco bello, in which he played three different characters. He used the same formula of the first work in 1981, when he directed Bianco, rosso e Verdone, a funny movie about three different men during election day in Italy. The movie, produced by his mentor Sergio Leone, was a great success in Italy, thanks to his brilliant comic energy and to his odd characters and had the soundtrack composed by Ennio Morricone.[3]

Another great mentor for Verdone was Alberto Sordi, since according to many Verdone[4] is considered his natural heir. Sordi wrote two Verdone films together: Journey with Papa, directed by Sordi, and Troppo forte, directed by Verdone and co-written as well by Sergio Leone.

Carlo Verdone, in a long directing career,[5][6] has refined very well his style, using very much the typical standard of the commedia all'italiana and paying attention to social themes and to pondering stories. Since the 1990s, he accompanied the comic tones of his work with a less comic register, writing and directing stories more attentive to the issues of modernity, cynicism and the excesses of society. Verdone still maintains a privileged relationship with the canons of the Italian comedy, mixing those canons with a more committed type of movie making. In 1999 he wrote the book "Fatti Coatti".[7] In 2005 he took part in the Italian blockbuster romantic comedy named Manuale d'amore, and in the sequels named Manuale d'amore 2 - Capitoli successivi (2007) and Manuale d'amore 3 (2011), both directed by Giovanni Veronesi, while in 2013 he starred in Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty.[8][9] In 2018 he directed Blessed Madness, that has been written for the first time by the director together with Nicola Guaglianone and the cartoonist and screenwriter Menotti.[10]

Personal life

He has two siblings: Luca, a film director, and Silvia, a film producer and wife of the actor Christian De Sica who starred in many of Verdone's early movies.

Filmography
Year Title Actor Director Writer Role
1980 Fun Is Beautiful Yes Yes Yes Enzo / Ruggero / Leo / Don Alfio / Anselmo / professor
1981 Bianco, rosso e Verdone Yes Yes Yes Furio / Mimmo / Pasquale
1982 Journey with Papa Yes No Yes Cristiano D'Ambrosi
1982 Grand Hotel Excelsior Yes No No Pericle Coccia
1982 Talcum Powder Yes Yes Yes Sergio Benvenuti
1983 Acqua e sapone Yes Yes Yes Rolando Ferrazza
1984 I due carabinieri Yes Yes Yes Marino Spada
1984 Cuori nella tormenta Yes No Yes Walter Migliorini
1986 7 chili in 7 giorni Yes No No Alfio Tamburini
1986 Troppo forte Yes Yes Yes Oscar Pettinari
1987 Io e mia sorella Yes Yes Yes Carlo Piergentili
1988 Compagni di scuola Yes Yes Yes Piero Ruffolo
1989 Il bambino e il poliziotto Yes Yes Yes Carlo Vinciguerra
1990 Stasera a casa di Alice Yes Yes Yes Saverio
1991 Maledetto il giorno che t'ho incontrato Yes Yes Yes Bernardo Arbusti
1992 Al lupo al lupo Yes Yes Yes Gregorio Sagonà
1994 Let's Not Keep in Touch Yes Yes Yes Gepy Fuxas
1995 Viaggi di nozze Yes Yes Yes Raniero / Giovannino / Ivano
1996 I'm Crazy About Iris Blond Yes Yes Yes Romeo Spera
1998 Gallo cedrone Yes Yes Yes Armando Feroci
1998 Lucky and Zorba Yes No No Zorba (voice)
2000 Zora the Vampire Yes No No Commissioner Lombardi
2000 A Chinese in a Coma Yes Yes Yes Ercole Preziosi
2003 It Can't Be All Our Fault Yes Yes Yes Gegè Tinacci
2004 Love Is Eternal While It Lasts Yes Yes Yes Gilberto Mercuri
2005 Manual of Love Yes No No Goffredo
2006 My Best Enemy Yes Yes Yes Achille De Bellis
2007 Manual of Love 2 Yes No No Ernesto
2008 Grande, grosso e... Verdone Yes Yes Yes Leo Nuvolone / Callisto Cagnato / Moreno Vecchiarutti / L'onorevole
2009 Italians Yes No No Giulio Cesare Carminati
2010 Me, Them and Lara Yes Yes Yes Carlo Mascolo
2011 The Ages of Love Yes No No Fabio
2012 A Flat for Three Yes Yes Yes Ulisse Diamanti
2013 The Great Beauty Yes No No Romano
2014 Sotto una buona stella Yes Yes Yes Federico Picchioni
2016 The Big Score Yes Yes Yes Arturo Merlino
2018 Blessed Madness Yes Yes Yes Guglielmo Pantalei
2021 Si vive una volta sola Yes Yes Yes Umberto Gastaldi

References
  1. "Quell'amico che ti segue tutta la vita. Un anno senza il compagno di banco" [The friend who follow you for all the life. A year without the deskmate]. Il Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 29 August 2020. Archived from the original on 30 August 2020.
  2. Moliterno, Gino (12 October 2009). The A to Z of Italian Cinema. ISBN 9780810870598. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  3. "Ennio Morricone composed soundtracks for Carlo Verdone". Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  4. "Carlo Verdone on VOGUE Italy". Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  5. "Rome Festival to Honor Italian Comic Actor Carlo Verdone". Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  6. "Carlo Verdone special guest of Italian Film Festival Berlin 2015". Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  7. Verdone, Carlo; Giusti, Marco (1999). The book "Fatti Coatti" by Carlo Verdone. ISBN 9788804437994. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  8. "Carlo Verdone inside the cast of The Great Beauty". Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  9. "The Great Beauty, review". Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  10. ""Blessed Madness" the new comedy helmed by Carlo Verdone". Retrieved 3 April 2018.
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