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.
Known For
Acting
1958
asDante Cruciani
1966
asTotò Innocenti / Frate Cicillo
1950
asPasquale Miele
1959
asIl nonno illuminato
1948
asNicolino Capece
1960
asAntonio Guardalavecchia
1955
asAntonio Caccavallo
1952
asAntonio Scannagatti
1965
asTotò
1950
asAntonio Sapone
1961
asDott. Biagio Tanzarella
1951
asFerdinando Esposito
1959
asTotò Scorceletti
1960
asAntonio Di Cosimo
1958
asMarchese Gastone de Chemantel / Chateau-Boiron / il vagabondo Totò
1947
asGasparre
1950
asTotò Esposito
1963
asAntonio La Trippa
1958
asAntonio Vignarello
1956
asDuca Gagliardo della Forcoletta
1963
ascommissario Antonio Saracino
1949
asNino, il fantasista
1960
asOttone Degli Ulivi, detto Zazà
1948
asProf. Totò Casamandrei
1957
asMichele Spillone detto Mike
1952
asAntonio Scaparro
1964
asTotò Baby / il Padre
1955
asGennaro Vaccariello
1949
asBeniamino Lomacchio
1954
asGennaro Piselli
1964
asJosè
1952
asErcole Pappalardo
1958
asIl Professore
1963
asPasquale Cicciacalda / Don Manuel
1963
asMarc'Antonio / Totonno
1959
asTorquato Pezzella
1962
asNini
1958
asPasquale Belafronte
1954
asFelice Sciosciammocca
1960
asUmberto 'Infortunio' Pennazzuto
1941
asNicolino & Gelsomino & Antonino
1954
asTapioca
1955
asAntonio Marchi
1961
asAntonio Barbacane
1968
asAnziano Signore / Iago
1945
asAristide Tromboni
1954
asRosario Chiarchiaro
1965
asil frate
1949
asAntonio De Fazio
1963
asCol. Antonio Cavalli
1949
asAntonio Lumaconi / Totò le Moko
1956
asAntonio Caponi
1940
asMastro Agostino Miciacio
1956
asAntonio Buonocore
1937
asConte Toto di Torretota
1954
asDon Saverio Petrillo (segment "Il guappo")
1951
asPiero / Paolo / Totò
1950
asAntonio Della Buffas
1963
asUrbano Cacace (segment "Il Vigile Ignoto")
1962
aslo smemorato
1960
asCavalier Antonio Cocozza
1939
asBarone Tolomeo dei Tolomei
1960
asL'Algerino
1953
asTottons
1954
asSalvatore Lojacono
1959
asCommissario Di Savio
1958
asGiuseppe La Paglia
1949
asTotò
1962
asGaleazzo / Carlo / Scipione / Antonio / Laudomia / Pasquale
1950
asIl barone Antonio Peletti
1959
asCesare Posalaquaglia
1962
asAntonio La Puzza / Amministratore di Canarinis
1961
asAntonio Capurro
1961
asAntonio LoRuffo
1953
asFelice Sciosciammocca
1954
asDon Felice Sciosciammocca
1956
asAntonio
1962
asTotokamen
1966
asDon Vincenzo
1963
asColonnello Di Maggio
1955
asAntonio La Quaglia
1963
asfrate bersagliere
1950
asFigaro
1943
asTotò
1963
asNini Cantachiaro
1968
as
1950
asTotò
1951
asTotò De Pasquale
1958
asBarone Luigi Fontana
1975
as(archive footage)
1964
as
1964
asFiliberto Comanducci
1965
asSerafino Benvenuti
1953
asProf. Paolino
1967
asCiancicato Miao (segment "La Terra vista dalla Luna")
2023
asSe stesso
1953
asRocco Bardelli
1967
asGennaro La Pezza
1967
as
1967
asBarnaba Parmiggiani aka 'Babà'
1967
asTotò l'agente segreto
1967
asmusicista capellone
1967
asTotò, la guida non autorizzata
1967
asil professor Serafino Bolletta
1967
asOberdan Lo Cascio
1967
asMardoccheo Stonatelli
1965
asRag. Antonio Gargiulo (ep. Amore e morte)
1955
as
1947
asGobbone il cammello (narratore)
2020
asSelf (archive footage) (uncredited)
2004
asSelf (archive footage)
2016
asSelf (archive footage)
2021
asSelf (archive footage)
2021
asSelf (archive footage)
1967
asCiancicato Miao
1968
asIago
1955
asTotò Esposito
1955
asProfessor Semprini
1978
asTotò (se stesso)
1954
asDionillo
1980
as
asSelf
Production
Crew
Directing
