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Massimo Girotti

Acting 84 (deceased) years old Mogliano, Macerata, Italy ★ 0.4
Born: May 18, 1918
Died: January 5, 2003

Biography

Massimo Girotti (18 May 1918 – 5 January 2003) was an Italian film actor whose career spanned seven decades.

Born in Mogliano, in the province of Macerata, Girotti developed his athletic physique by swimming and playing polo. While studying engineering, he attracted the attention of Mario Soldati, who offered him a small part in the film Dora Nelson (1939), but it was not until later, in Alessandro Blasetti's La corona di ferro (The Iron Crown) (1941) and Roberto Rossellini's Un Pilota ritorna (A Pilot Returns) (1942), that he began to make an impression as a serious actor. In 1943 came a turning point in his career when Luchino Visconti cast him opposite the torrid Clara Calamai in Ossessione (Obsession), an earlier adaptation of the same novel on which Hollywood's The Postman Always Rings Twice is based. The film marked, in a sense, the birth of Italian neo-realism. Some of his notable post-war films include Caccia tragica (The Tragic Hunt) (1946) by Giuseppe De Santis and In nome della legge (1949) (In the Name of the Law) by Pietro Germi.

In 1950, he starred opposite Lucia Bosé in Michelangelo Antonioni's first full-length feature, Cronaca di un amore (Story of a Love Affair) (1950). In 1953, he played Spartacus in an Italian epic film known in the US as Sins of Rome and then, returned to work again for Visconti, in Senso (1954), giving perhaps the finest performance of his career. In the years which followed, he appeared in many mainly Italian films for directors such as Lizzani, Bolognini, Vittorio Cottafavi, Lattuada, but it was not until 1968 that he once again played a role worthy of his talents - that of the father in Pasolini's Teorema (Theorem) with Terence Stamp and Silvana Mangano. Two years later, Pasolini cast him as Creonte opposite Maria Callas in his Medea (1969). In 1972, he was in Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris. That same year he made a rare appearance in a horror film when he agreed to a supporting role in Baron Blood as a favor to its director Mario Bava.

He continued to act in character roles for the next thirty years. Some of the films he appeared in have been notable, including Joseph Losey's Monsieur Klein (1976) with Alain Delon and Jeanne Moreau, Art of Love (1983) by Walerian Borowczyk, the 1985 television miniseries Quo Vadis?, Roberto Benigni's Il mostro (The Monster) (1994).

He died in Rome of a heart attack after having just completed his last film, Ferzan Özpetek's La Finestra di fronte (Facing Windows) (2003).

Source: Article "Massimo Girotti" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

External Links

🎬 IMDb

Known For

Last Tango in Paris
Last Tango in Paris Marcel 1972
The Monster
The Monster il condomino distinto 1994
Theorem
Theorem Paolo, the Father 1968
The French Revolution
The French Revolution Envoyé du Pape 1989
The Witches
The Witches Sportsman (segment "La strega bruciata viva") 1967

Filmography

Acting Credits (112)

Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita
Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita Self (archive footage) 2021
Facing Windows
Facing Windows Simone / Davide Veroli 2003
Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti Self (archive footage) 2002
Der Kardinal - Der Preis der Liebe
Der Kardinal - Der Preis der Liebe Donato 2000
Un bel dì vedremo
Un bel dì vedremo Emilio Venditti 1996
The Monster
The Monster il condomino distinto 1994
L'Amore Dopo
L'Amore Dopo Ing. Staino 1993
From Night to Dawn
From Night to Dawn Vergiotti 1992
Der Erfolg ihres Lebens
Der Erfolg ihres Lebens Le comte di Falco 1990
The French Revolution
The French Revolution L'envoyé du Pape (« Les Années Lumière ») 1989
The French Revolution
The French Revolution Envoyé du Pape 1989
Affairs
Affairs Count Valery Du Terrail 1989
La Bohème
La Bohème The Old Pretender / Featuring 1988
Der Ochsenkrieg
Der Ochsenkrieg Someier 1987
The Berlin Affair
The Berlin Affair Werner von Heiden 1985
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus Duca Medina Coeli 1985
Quo Vadis?
Quo Vadis? Aulus Plautius 1985
Art of Love
Art of Love Ovid 1983
Passion of Love
Passion of Love Colonel 1981
Un reietto delle isole
Un reietto delle isole Tom Lingard 1980
L'Ultimo Aereo per Venezia
L'Ultimo Aereo per Venezia Marcello Masini 1977
Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti
Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti 1977
Origins of the Mafia
Origins of the Mafia Viceroy Caracciolo 1976
And Agnes Chose To Die
And Agnes Chose To Die Palita 1976
Mr. Klein
Mr. Klein Charles, Florence's husband 1976
The Innocent
The Innocent Count Stefano Egano 1976
Mark Shoots First
Mark Shoots First Il Questore Spaini 1975
The Suspicious Death of a Minor
The Suspicious Death of a Minor Gaudenzio Pesce 1975
Cagliostro
Cagliostro Giacomo Casanova 1975
The Kiss
The Kiss Eugenio Dazzi 1974
Stateline Motel
Stateline Motel Fred Norton 1973
The Voracious Ones
The Voracious Ones Olmi 1973
Last Tango in Paris
Last Tango in Paris Marcel 1972
My Body With Anger
My Body With Anger Gabriele 1972
Baron Blood
Baron Blood Dr. Karl Hummel 1972
Il segno del comando
Il segno del comando George Powell 1971
Medea
Medea Creonte 1969
The Red Tent
The Red Tent Giuseppe Romagna Manoja 1969
La coppia
La coppia Guido 1969
The Sisters
The Sisters Alex 1969
Jekyll
Jekyll John Utterson 1969
Listen, Let's Make Love
Listen, Let's Make Love Tassi 1968
Theorem
Theorem Paolo, the Father 1968
The Witches
The Witches Sportsman (segment "La strega bruciata viva") 1967
The Mysterious Mr. Van Eyck
The Mysterious Mr. Van Eyck Friend of Charles 1966
Idoli controluce
Idoli controluce Ugo Sanfelice 1965
Marco the Magnificent
Marco the Magnificent Nicolo, Marco's Father 1965
Gold for the Caesars
Gold for the Caesars Pro-consul Caius Cornelius Maximus) 1963
Mafia alla sbarra
Mafia alla sbarra 1963
The Shortest Day
The Shortest Day Capitano alla finestra (uncredited) 1963
Imperial Venus
Imperial Venus Leclerc 1962
Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus Tazio 1961
The Giants of Thessaly
The Giants of Thessaly Orfeo 1960
Letters of a Novice
Letters of a Novice Don Paolo Conti 1960
The Cossacks
The Cossacks Tsar Alexander II 1960
Cavalcata selvaggia
Cavalcata selvaggia Lorenzo 1960
Nights of the Teddy Boys
Nights of the Teddy Boys Constantino's Father 1959
La cento chilometri
La cento chilometri Toccaceli 1959
Wolves in the Abyss
Wolves in the Abyss Comandante 1959
The Head of a Tyrant
The Head of a Tyrant Holofernes 1959
Asphalt
Asphalt Éric 1959
Herod the Great
Herod the Great Ottaviano 1959
The Year Long Road
The Year Long Road Chiacchiera (Naklapalo) 1958
Goddess Of Love
Goddess Of Love Prassitele 1957
La trovatella di Pompei
La trovatella di Pompei Guglielmo Curti 1957
La bestia humana
La bestia humana Pedro Sandoval 1957
It Happened in Rome
It Happened in Rome Ugo Parenti 1957
Saranno uomini
Saranno uomini Don Antonio 1957
Four of the Thundering Jet
Four of the Thundering Jet Maggiore Montanari 1955
Marguerite of the Night
Marguerite of the Night Valentin 1955
Disperato addio
Disperato addio dottor Andrea Pitti 1955
Senso
Senso Il Marchese Roberto Ussoni 1954
La tua donna
La tua donna Sandro Ademari 1954
The Love of a Woman
The Love of a Woman André Lorenz 1953
Vortice
Vortice Dr. Guido Aureli 1953
At the Edge of the City
At the Edge of the City Avv. Roberto Martini 1953
A Husband for Anna
A Husband for Anna Andrea Grazzi 1953
Sul ponte dei sospiri
Sul ponte dei sospiri Marco Spada 1953
Sins of Rome
Sins of Rome Spartacus 1953
Il segreto delle tre punte
Il segreto delle tre punte Massimo Dal Colle 1952
Lieutenant Giorgio
Lieutenant Giorgio Tenente Giorgio Biserta 1952
Fugitive in Trieste
Fugitive in Trieste Fred Nolan 1952
Leathernose
Leathernose Doctor Marchal 1952
Rome 11:00
Rome 11:00 Nando the Unemployed 1952
Behind Closed Shutters
Behind Closed Shutters Ingegnere Roberto 1951
Land der Sehnsucht
Land der Sehnsucht 1950
Story of a Love Affair
Story of a Love Affair Guido 1950
Duel Without Honor
Duel Without Honor Carlo 1950
In the Name of the Law
In the Name of the Law Il pretore Guido Schiavi 1949
Fabiola
Fabiola Sebastian 1949
Altura
Altura Stanis Archena 1949
Difficult Years
Difficult Years Giovanni Piscitello 1948
Woman Trouble
Woman Trouble Paolo Bertoni 1948
Lost Youth
Lost Youth Marcello Mariani 1948
Christmas at Camp 119
Christmas at Camp 119 Nane, il veneziano 1947
Tragic Hunt
Tragic Hunt Michele 1947
Fatalità
Fatalità Vincenzo Masi 1947
Desire
Desire Nando Mancini 1946
A Day in the Life
A Day in the Life Luigi Monotti 1946
Preludio d'amore
Preludio d'amore Rocco 1946
The Gates of Heaven
The Gates of Heaven The blind youth 1945
La carne e l'anima
La carne e l'anima Andrea 1945
I dieci comandamenti
I dieci comandamenti (segment "Ricordati di santificare le feste") 1945
Obsession
Obsession Gino Costa 1944
Apparizione
Apparizione Franco 1943
Harlem
Harlem Tommaso Rossi 1943
A Pilot Returns
A Pilot Returns Lieutenant Gino Rossati 1942
La famiglia Brambilla in vacanza
La famiglia Brambilla in vacanza Marco Sassoli 1941
Le due tigri
Le due tigri Tremal-Naik 1941
I pirati della Malesia
I pirati della Malesia Tremal-Naik 1941
The Iron Crown
The Iron Crown Arminio / King Licinio 1941
Dora Nelson
Dora Nelson Enrico 1939

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