Acting
Totò
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.
Filmography
Totò e il Principe De Curtis - L'uomo oltre la maschera
Film · 2023
Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita
Film · 2021
We Are Cinema
Film · 2021
Siamo tutti Alberto Sordi?
Film · 2020
Naples '44
Film · 2016
Hollywood sul Tevere
Film · 2009
How We Got the Italian Movie Business Into Trouble: The True Story of Franco and Ciccio
Film · 2004
SuperTotò
Film · 1980
Antologia di Totò
Film · 1978
Forza Italia!
Film · 1977
Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti
Film · 1977
Un sorriso, uno schiaffo, un bacio in bocca
Film · 1975
Caprice Italian Style
Film · 1968
Totò Story
Film · 1968
What Are the Clouds?
Film · 1968
The Witches
Film · 1967
Il latitante
Film · 1967
Tutto Totò - Il tuttofare
Film · 1967
Tutto Totò - Don Giovannino
Film · 1967
Tutto Totò - Totò Ciak
Film · 1967
Tutto Totò - Totò a Napoli
Film · 1967
Tutto Totò - Totò Ye Ye
Film · 1967
Tutto Totò - Premio Nobel
Film · 1967
Tutto Totò - La scommessa
Film · 1967
Tutto Totò - Il grande maestro
Film · 1967
The Earth As Seen from the Moon
Film · 1967
The Hawks and the Sparrows
Film · 1966
The Treasure of San Gennaro
Film · 1966
Totò d'Arabia
Film · 1965
The Mandrake
Film · 1965
Rita the American Girl
Film · 1965
Latin Lovers
Film · 1965
What Ever Happened to Baby Toto?
Film · 1964
Totò versus the Black Pirate
Film · 1964
Laughs Italian Style
Film · 1964
Beautiful Families
Film · 1964
Gli onorevoli
Film · 1963
Totò vs the Four
Film · 1963
The Monk of Monza
Film · 1963
Toto and Cleopatra
Film · 1963
The Commandant
Film · 1963
Le motorizzate
Film · 1963
Two Colonels
Film · 1963
The Shortest Day
Film · 1963
Totò sexy
Film · 1963
Toto at Night
Film · 1962
Lo smemorato di Collegno
Film · 1962
Totò diabolicus
Film · 1962
Totò e Peppino divisi a Berlino
Film · 1962
Totò versus Maciste
Film · 1962
Sua Eccellenza si fermò a mangiare
Film · 1961
Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life
Film · 1961
The Two Marshals
Film · 1961
Totòtruffa '62
Film · 1961
He Who Hesitates Is Lost
Film · 1960
Letto a tre piazze
Film · 1960
Gentlemen Are Born
Film · 1960
The Passionate Thief
Film · 1960
Toto, Fabrizi and the Young People Today
Film · 1960
Noi duri
Film · 1960
You're on Your Own
Film · 1959
Toto in Madrid
Film · 1959
The Overtaxed
Film · 1959
The Thieves
Film · 1959
La cambiale
Film · 1959
Big Deal on Madonna Street
Film · 1958
Toto in Paris
Film · 1958
Totò, Peppino e le fanatiche
Film · 1958
Toto and Marcellino
Film · 1958
Totò in the Moon
Film · 1958
The Law Is the Law
Film · 1958
Legs of Gold
Film · 1958
Totò, Vittorio and the Doctor
Film · 1957
Totò Double or Nothing?
Film · 1956
Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy
Film · 1956
The Band of Honest Men
Film · 1956
Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge
Film · 1956
Cinépanorama
Series · 1956
Toto and Carolina
Film · 1955
Il coraggio
Film · 1955
Totò all'inferno
Film · 1955
Destinazione Piovarolo
Film · 1955
Variety carousel
Film · 1955
Are We Men or Corporals?
Film · 1955
Roman Tales
Film · 1955
Totò Seeks Peace
Film · 1954
Il medico dei pazzi
Film · 1954
The Three Thieves
Film · 1954
Of Life and Love
Film · 1954
The Gold of Naples
Film · 1954
Where Is Freedom?
Film · 1954
Poverty and Nobility
Film · 1954
The Anatomy of Love
Film · 1954
Funniest Show on Earth
Film · 1953
Neapolitan Turk
Film · 1953
Man, Beast and Virtue
Film · 1953
Una di quelle
Film · 1953
Totó in color
Film · 1952
Toto and the Women
Film · 1952
Toto and the Kings of Rome
Film · 1952
Cops and Robbers
Film · 1951
Toto the Third Man
Film · 1951
Seven Hours of Troubles
Film · 1951
Side Street Story
Film · 1950
Toto the Sheik
Film · 1950
Le sei mogli di Barbablù
Film · 1950
Tototarzan
Film · 1950
47 Talking Corpses
Film · 1950
Figaro qua... Figaro là
Film · 1950
Totò Looking for Wife
Film · 1950
Yvonne of the Night
Film · 1949
Totò Looking for a House
Film · 1949
The Emperor of Capri
Film · 1949
Totò le Mokò
Film · 1949
The Firemen of Viggiù
Film · 1949
Fifa e arena
Film · 1948
Toto Tours Italy
Film · 1948
Two Little Orphans
Film · 1947
Slave Girl
Film · 1947
The Rape of the Sabine
Film · 1945
Two Hearts Against the Beast
Film · 1943
L'allegro fantasma
Film · 1941
San Giovanni decollato
Film · 1940
Animal Crackers
Film · 1939
Hands Off Me!
Film · 1937