Alberto Sordi

February 25, 2003 12:13 PM

Alberto Sordi, one of the greatest italian actor of all times, died today.Just wanted to let all the italians around the world without .it TV access know. He'll be so incredibly missed.
posted by elpapacito (6 comments total)

Baccio, baby.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 12:36 PM on February 25, 2003

Check him out in Fellini's The White Sheik and I Vitelloni

A lost (to most non-Italians) gem: Il vedovo

Among his many American fans: Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro (who once said that nobody could do comedy like Sordi), Jack Nicholson (all over the Italian media today there's a very moving tribute by Nicholson, who tells about his love for Sordi's characters, and talks about Sordi in "I Vitelloni", a performance he says he studied very carefully)
posted by matteo at 1:25 PM on February 25, 2003

also, a small mistake in the rather good BBC story:

have a picture of the actor stuffing his face with spaghetti in the 1954 hit An American in Rome.

it was bucatini, actually, not spaghetti


another anecdote:
in the "American in Rome" movie, Sordi played a young man obsessed with and totally smitten by the USA, and in the film he mentioned all the time his desire to visit, of all places, Kansas City. After the movie became a huge box-office hit in Italy, Sordi was invited -- a totally graceful gesture -- by the mayor of Kansas City and given a big celebration there, to thank him for mentioning the city in the movie
posted by matteo at 1:40 PM on February 25, 2003

i loved him in those magnificent men in their flying machines; it was one of my favourite films when i was a kid. haven't seen it for well over a decade so i'm going to rent it this weekend.
posted by t r a c y at 1:52 PM on February 25, 2003

What's America

I have the inestimable Sgr. Sordi to thank for this phrase, which I would (and do) hear sporadically, even from Italians with very little English at their disposal. It caused me no end of confusion and consternation my first few years here (thinking they were poking mild fun at my floundering in Italian) until I got up the courage to ask my girl friend "Perchè tutti mi prendano in giro con questo 'What's America'?" And so I was introduced to the film Un Americano a Roma, which simulataneously stretched my limited Italian and made my stomach ache from laughter.

:-( Addio. R.I.P.
posted by romakimmy at 2:08 PM on February 25, 2003

I only know of him through the Fellini connection: White Shiek and Roma. Liked him in Those Magnificent Men, but sadly I didn't catch nearly enough of Sordi as I should have.
posted by ed at 3:16 PM on February 25, 2003