Totò
Biography
Totò was born Antonio Clemente in a poor district of Naples, the illegitimate son of Anna Clemente from Sicily and Marquis Giuseppe De Curtis from Naples. Nicknamed “il principe della risata’ (the prince of laughter), he was an Italian comedian, film and theatre actor, writer, singer and songwriter, and widely considered one of the greatest Italian artists of the 20th century. While he first gained his popularity as a comic actor, his dramatic roles, poetry, and songs are all of cultural import; his style and a number of his recurring jokes and gestures have become universally known memes in Italy.
As a comic actor, Totò is classified as an heir of the Commedia dell'Arte tradition, and has been compared to such figures as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. At the age of 15, he was already acting as a comedian in small theatres, under the pseudonym "Clerment". His early repertoire mostly consisted in imitations of Gustavo De Marco's characters. He served in the army during World War I and then went back to acting to develop the trademarks of his style.
In 1937, he appeared in his first movie "Fermo con le mani", and later starred in 96 more films, many of which are still frequently broadcast on Italian television. In his vast cinematographic career, Totò had the opportunity to act side by side with virtually all major Italian actors of the time. Totò's unmistakable figure, with his peculiarly irregular face (due to an accident in his teen years), and his unique trademark ability to disarticulate his body like a marionette, soon became very popular and his comic gags became part of the Italian culture. Totò died at the age of 69 in Rome after a series of heart attacks. Due to overwhelming popularity there were three funeral services: the first in Rome, and the second and third in Naples. Totò's birth home has been recently opened to the public as a museum.
Acting (121 movies)
Big Deal on Madonna Street
1958
The Hawks and the Sparrows
1966
Side Street Story
1950
You're on Your Own
1959
Fifa e arena
1948
He Who Hesitates Is Lost
1960
Toto and Carolina
1955
Totó in color
1952
Totò d'Arabia
1965
Toto the Sheik
1950
Sua Eccellenza si fermò a mangiare
1961
Cops and Robbers
1951
Toto in Madrid
1959
Letto a tre piazze
1960
Toto in Paris
1958
Two Little Orphans
1947
Le sei mogli di Barbablù
1950
Gli onorevoli
1963
Totò, Peppino e le fanatiche
1958
Totò Double or Nothing?
1956
Totò vs the Four
1963
Yvonne of the Night
1949
Signori si nasce
1960
Toto Tours Italy
1948
Totò, Vittorio and the Doctor
1957
Toto and the Women
1952
What Ever Happened to Baby Toto?
1964
Il coraggio
1955
Totò Looking for a House
1949
Totò Seeks Peace
1954
Totò versus the Black Pirate
1964
Toto and the Kings of Rome
1952
Toto and Marcellino
1958
The Monk of Monza
1963
Toto and Cleopatra
1963
The Overtaxed
1959
Toto at Night
1962
Totò in the Moon
1958
Il medico dei pazzi
1954
The Passionate Thief
1960
L'allegro fantasma
1941
The Three Thieves
1954
Totò all'inferno
1955
Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life
1961
Caprice Italian Style
1968
The Rape of the Sabine
1945
Of Life and Love
1954
The Mandrake
1965
The Emperor of Capri
1949
The Commandant
1963
Totò le Mokò
1949
Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy
1956
San Giovanni decollato
1940
The Band of Honest Men
1956
Hands Off Me!
1937
The Gold of Naples
1954
Toto the Third Man
1951
Tototarzan
1950
Le motorizzate
1963
Lo smemorato di Collegno
1962
Toto, Fabrizi and the Young People Today
1960
Animal Crackers
1939
Noi duri
1960
Funniest Show on Earth
1953
Where Is Freedom?
1954
The Thieves
1959
The Law Is the Law
1958
The Firemen of Viggiù
1949
Totò diabolicus
1962
47 Talking Corpses
1950
La cambiale
1959
Totò e Peppino divisi a Berlino
1962
The Two Marshals
1961
Totòtruffa '62
1961
Neapolitan Turk
1953
Poverty and Nobility
1954
Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge
1956
Totò versus Maciste
1962
The Treasure of San Gennaro
1966
Two Colonels
1963
Destinazione Piovarolo
1955
The Shortest Day
1963
Figaro qua... Figaro là
1950
Totò nella fossa dei leoni
1943
Totò Sexy
1963
Totò Story
1968
Totò Looking for Wife
1950
Seven Hours of Troubles
1951
Legs of Gold
1958
Un sorriso, uno schiaffo, un bacio in bocca
1975
Laughs Italian Style
1964
Beautiful Families
1964
Rita the American Girl
1965
Man, Beast and Virtue
1953
The Witches
1967
Totò e il Principe De Curtis - L'uomo oltre la maschera
2023
Una di quelle
1953
Il latitante
1967
Tutto Totò - Il tuttofare
1967
Tutto Totò - Don Giovannino
1967
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Il medico dei pazzi | 1954 | Screenplay |
| Totò all'inferno | 1955 | Screenplay |
| Are We Men or Corporals? | 1955 | Screenplay |
| Il coraggio | 1955 | Screenplay |
| Tutto Totò - Il grande maestro | 1967 | Writer |