TOTò

'Totò' was the stage name of 'Antonio de Curtis' (born 'Antonio Clemente', February 15 1898, Naples – April 15, 1967, Rome), an Italian actor, writer, and songwriter, recognised by many as a comic genius.

Contents

Biography

Trivia

External links

Biography

Totò was born in the ''rione Sanità'', a poor area of Naples, Italy, where he met many famous artists like Eduardo De Filippo.
De Curtis started his career in small theatres in which he learnt the art of the ''guitti'', the Neapolitan actors who acted without scenery, like in the Commedia dell'arte.
He was the son of Anna Clemente and Marquis Giuseppe de Curtis, who recognized him as his son in 1928. On his father's death in 1933 Totò was adopted by Marquis Francesco Gagliardi Focas.
In 1946, at a time when the Consulta Araldica—the body which had advised the Kingdom of Italy on questions of noble titles—had ceased to function, the Tribunal of Naples recognised his many titles, so his complete name became ‘'Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi De Curtis of Byzantium, His Imperial Highness, Palatine Count, Kinght of the Holy Roman Empire, Exarch of Ravenna, Duke of Macedonia and Illyria, Prince of Constantinople, Cilicia, Thessaly, Ponte of Moldavia, Dardania, Peloponnesus, Count of Cyprus and Epirus, Count and Duke of Drivasto and Durazzo''’. (Before the change, his name was plain Antonio Clemente).
In 1922 he moved to Rome, where he had his first appearances in bigger theatres, performing the genre of "''avanspettacolo''", a vaudevillean mixture of music, ballet and brilliant comedy. He became a master at these shows, (also known as ''riviste'') and in the 1930s he had his own company, with which he travelled across the nation.
In 1937 he appeared in his first movie, ''Fermo con le mani'', and went on to appear in over 100 films, many of which contained gags later absorbed in the Italian phraseology.
Some of his most famous movies are ''Totò e le donne, Miseria e nobiltà, I soliti ignoti, I ladri, Totò e Cleopatra'' and ''Uccellacci e uccellini.''
Totò's strange figure, with the peculiar irregular face, soon became very popular and his comic gags were widely appreciated. From the 1950s onwards, he would have represented the most brilliant Italian comedy, even if official critics always denied him any artistic value. Yet some of his spicy gags became the subject of parliamentary inquiries because, given his popularity, they could have been politically dangerous for the governments of the Democrazia Cristiana.
It was with Pier Paolo Pasolini's ''Uccellacci ed Uccellini'' that Totò received a first acknowledgment of his talent, later better understood. He had lost part of his eyesight, and had started to compose poetry. ''A livella'' is perhaps his most valuable one. The poem talks about Death, which levels all the social differences that divide us in life. Totò wrote songs too: ''Malafemmena'' (the bad girl) has been considered as one of the best ever written Italian songs.
In the artistic ''milieu'' he was nicknamed "il Principe" (the prince) and was famous for his generous spirit: having personally suffered poverty, he always tried to help and protect poorer colleagues.
He died on April 15, 1967, in Rome, Italy after a series of heart attacks, at the age of 69.

Trivia

★ Totò is the rubber-faced comic featured in several movies excerpted in the movie ''Nuovo Cinema Paradiso''.

External links

★ Fan site (in Italian)

★ Tribute to Totò (in Italian)

★ IMDB entry for Totò