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1-13 of 13
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Italian 'cantautore' (singer/songwriter), a romantic icon of the 1960's whose budding career ended in a tragic suicide at the age of twenty-eight. Luigi grew up in Cassine and Ricaldone Marazion (province Alessandria), the offspring of an illegitimate union between his mother Teresa and a man whose name he never learned. The man whose name he bore, Giuseppe Tenco, had died as a result of an accident (apparently, he was kicked in the head by a cow!) before Luigi was born. In 1948, Teresa took her son to Genoa where she opened a liquor store, selling Piedmontese wines. While studying at Andrea Doria High School, Tenco learned to play clarinet and piano (later adding alto sax) and formed a jazz band, the Jelly Roll Morton Boys. This venture only lasted a year, but he went on to assemble other groups: 'I Diavoli del Rock' (1958) (whose theme song he also composed) and 'I Cavalieri' (1959) (which he fronted under the alias 'Gigi Mai'). In 1958, he went on tour through Germany with Adriano Celentano. Having signed a contract with the recording label Ricordi in 1961, Tenco turned out his first single, 'Quando'. He also briefly flirted with film acting and got a small part as a rebellious, introverted youth in Luciano Salce''s La cuccagna (1962), in which he also performed the song "La ballata dell'eroe".
Though frequently hamstrung by censorship from Commitee Rai, Tenco was embraced by the public and emerged over the next five years as one of the most popular romantic balladeers on the Italian music scene, releasing hits like "Notturno Senza Luna" (1961), "Mi sono innamorato di te" (1962), the torch song "Vedrai, Vedrai" (1965) and the hauntingly beautiful "Senza Fine" (1961), written by his one-time friend and collaborator Gino Paoli). By 1965, now under contract with RCA, he found his career momentarily put on hold when he was conscripted for military service. Released on medical grounds in March 1966, Tenco moved to Rome where he met the Egyptian-Italian singer Dalida with whom he became romantically involved, prompting a feeding frenzy among the paparazzi. To what extent this was a publicity stunt is unclear, since, at the same time, Tenco conducted various other affairs, even proposing marriage to a girl named Valeria, a university student who was expecting a child by him. Valeria was later hit by a car and lost the child.
Tenco's life had already begun to unravel by then. Suffering from depression, he had begun experimenting with cocktails of LSD and mescaline, taking psychotropic drugs against stage fright, becoming obsessive about collecting and carrying firearms. When his entry for the 1967 San Remo Festival failed to make the finals, Tenco committed suicide by gunshot to the right temple in his hotel room, on January 27. Controversy over his death raged for many years. There were allegations that the original police investigations into his death had been botched, that he had, in fact, been murdered. However, thirty-nine years after his death, the original verdict of suicide was confirmed after an autopsy conducted at the Civil Hospital of Acqui Terme in February 2006.- Actress
- Writer
At the beginning of the nineteen thirties a new star appeared in the skies of fascist-led Italy, a nineteen-year-old Russian-born named Assia Norris, soon to be nicknamed the country's sweetheart. Fresh and charming, she drew lots of fans into theaters. Not that the comedies she played in were masterpieces: they were in fact harmless and a bit artificial but constituted welcome escapism from the strange times the Italians were living. Not that Assia Noris was the greatest actress ever either: she never really changed face expressions, when she was supposed to cry she shed crocodile tears plus she could not go beyond the superficiality of the characters she was given to play. But how sizzling she was, how cute she was and what beautiful costumes and hats she wore! And if most of her films have not aged well the ones she made for her husband Mario Camerini, most of the time with heartthrob Vittorio De Sica, ("Il Signor Max", "Batticuore", "Grandi Magazzini") stand the test of time better. The queen of "telefoni bianchi" also appeared in two good French films during the war, Louis Daquin's "Le voyageur de la Toussaint" and Abel Gance's "Le Capitaine Fracasse". Then Mussolini suddenly disappeared from the historical scene. At the same time, Assia Noris' star started waning. The new Italy wanted new sweethearts, or, even better, new seductresses.- Writer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Edward Lear was an English artist, poet, musician and humorist best known for writing the children's poem, "The Owl and the Pussycat." Lear published "A Book of Nonsense" in 1846, which greatly helped to popularize the limerick. As an artist, he produced scientific illustrations of birds and other wildlife. He also composed twelve musical settings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poetry.- Music Department
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Fausto Papetti was born on 28 January 1923 in Viggiù, Lombardy, Italy. He was a writer, known for Girl with a Suitcase (1961), Al Bakheel Wa Ana (1991) and Gino (1960). He died on 15 June 1999 in Sanremo, Liguria, Italy.- Elio Jotta was born on 24 February 1912 in Cremona, Italy. He was an actor, known for Maciste in King Solomon's Mines (1964), La polizia ha le mani legate (1975) and Con gli occhi dell'occidente (1979). He died on 9 January 1996 in Sanremo, Italy.
- Pelos La Capria was an actor, known for Saturday, Sunday and Monday (1990), Ferdinando and Carolina (1999) and Francesca e Nunziata (2001). He died on 19 January 2002 in Sanremo, Liguria, Italy.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Pippo Barzizza was born on 15 May 1902 in Genoa, Liguria, Italy. He was a composer and actor, known for 10 canzoni d'amore da salvare (1962), Figaro qua, Figaro là (1950) and Fermi tutti... arrivo io! (1953). He was married to T. Saltina. He died on 4 April 1994 in Sanremo, Liguria, Italy.- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Franco Alfano was born on 8 March 1876 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He was a composer, known for Two Lovers (2008), Cyrano de Bergerac (2008) and My Heart Is Calling (1935). He died on 27 October 1954 in Sanremo, Liguria, Italy.- Enza Tomaselli was born on 1 October 1937 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. She died on 10 January 2015 in Sanremo, Liguria, Italy.
- Luisa Alliani was born on 3 February 1921 in Sant'Elpidio a Mare, Italy. She was an actress, known for L'abito nero da sposa (1945) and Il ratto delle sabine (1945). She died on 12 June 2011 in Sanremo, Italy.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Paolo Cavallina was born on 30 January 1916 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He was an actor and director, known for Germania 7 donne a testa (1970), Happy Magic (1982) and I baccanali di Tiberio (1960). He died on 10 February 1986 in Sanremo, Liguria, Italy.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Armando Romeo was born on 18 February 1924 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He was an actor, known for Crazy Desire (1962), This Angry Age (1958) and Carovana di canzoni (1955). He died on 19 May 2016 in Sanremo, Liguria, Italy.- Mehmed VI was born on 2 February 1861 in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey]. He died on 16 May 1926 in Sanremo, Liguria, Italy.