Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman, Knight Grand Cross, OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [vitˈtɔːrjo ˈɡazman]; born Vittorio Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as Il Mattatore, was an Italian theatre and film actor, as well as director.
He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors and is commonly recalled as an extremely professional, versatile, magnetic interpreter, whose long career includes both important productions as well as dozens of divertissements (which made him greatly popular).
Biography
Early life
He was born in Genoa to a German father, Heinrich Gassmann, and a Pisan Jewish mother, Luisa Ambron. While still very young he moved to Rome, where he studied at the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica.
Career
Gassman's debut was in Milan, in 1942, with Alda Borelli in Niccodemi's Nemica (theatre). He then moved to Rome and acted at the Teatro Eliseo joining Tino Carraro and Ernesto Calindri in a team that remained famous for some time; with them he acted in a range of plays from bourgeois comedy to sophisticated intellectual theatre. In 1946, he made his film debut in Preludio d'amore, while only one year later he appeared in five films. In 1948 he played in Riso amaro.