Leopoldo Trieste (3 May 1917 – 25 January 2003) was an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and playwright. He worked with directors such as Federico Fellini, Francis Ford Coppola, Pietro Germi, Giuseppe Tornatore, Mario Bava, Tinto Brass, Charles Vidor, Jean-Jacques Annaud and René Clément.

Life and career Born in Reggio Calabria, Trieste was the son of a Socialist railway worker who died when he was ten, leaving him and his two sisters orphaned and in difficult financial circumstances.Puppa, Paolo (2019). "Trieste, Leopoldo". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 96. Treccani. Moved to Rome, he became friends with poet Salvatore Quasimodo, got a degree in letters with Natalino Sapegno in 1939, and was awarded a scholarship in ethnology studies to Boston, which he could not use because of the outbreak of World War II. In 1939, driven by his infatuation with actress Adriana Benetti, he enrolled at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia; drafted soon afterward, he served in the infantry and later in a film unit in Sicily shooting propaganda footage, before deserting in 1944 and returning to Rome.

The author of numerous plays, Trieste made his official debut in 1945, with the drama La frontiera, staged at the Teatro Quirino. His 1946 drama play Febbre di vivere was later adapted into a film, Eager to Live, directed by Claudio Gora and starring Marcello Mastroianni. He first entered the film industry as a screenwriter, collaborating among others in Pietro Germi's Lost Youth and Gora's The Sky Is Red.

While Trieste initially had no acting ambitions, his friend Federico Fellini launched him as an actor, first giving him the husband role in The White Sheik, and later making him play an aspiring playwright in I Vitelloni. Trieste soon embarked on an intense career as a character actor and also directed two films, Città di notte and Il peccato degli anni verdi, whose poor box office performance led him to abandon further attempts at directing.

In the early 1960s, Trieste earned critical acclaim for his performances in Nanni Loy's A Day for Lionhearts and Pietro Germi's black comedies Divorce Italian Style and Seduced and Abandoned, the latter of which gave him a Nastro d'Argento Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 1974, he played one of his better known roles, the loan shark Roberto, in The Godfather Part II. In 1985, he won a second Nastro d'Argento for Marco Bellocchio's Henry IV. Starting from the 1980s, he mainly worked with young and upcoming directors such as Roberto Andò, Alessandro Di Robilant, and Giuseppe Tornatore, whose The Star Maker got him a third Nastro as well as a David di Donatello. He was also active on television, notably appearing in Quo Vadis?, The Betrothed, and guest-starring in an episode of Inspector Montalbano.

Trieste died in his sleep from a heart attack on 25 January 2003, at the age of 85.

Filmography as actor

Preludio d'amore (1947) as Paolo The Counterfeiters (1951) as Brigadiere Caputo The White Sheik (1952) as Ivan Cavalli I Vitelloni (1953) as Leopoldo Vannucci A Day in Court (1954) as Leopoldo Where Is Freedom? (1954) as Abramo Piperno An American in Rome (1954) as Spettatore alla TV Via Padova 46 (1954) as The Man with a Cigarette The Sign of Venus (1955) as Pittore Buonanotte... avvocato! (1955) as Neighbor (uncredited) Il padrone sono me (1955) as Il filosofo Destination Piovarolo (1955) as L'ispettore delle ferrovie Il coraggio (1955) as Rag. Rialti We're All Necessary (1956) A Hero of Our Times (1957) as Aurelio A Farewell to Arms (1957) as Passini Città di notte (1958) I ragazzi dei Parioli (1959) as Anarchist Everyone's in Love (1959) as Cipriani Avventura a Capri (1959) as Professore Cavicchio The Moralist (1959) as The Advertising Designer Le svedesi (1960) as Alessio The Joy of Living (1961) as Anarchist artist A Day for Lionhearts (1961) as Michele Divorce, Italian Style (1961) as Carmelo Patanè The Eye of the Needle (1963) as Calogero Lo Niro Il Successo (1963) as Grassi Seduced and Abandoned (1964) as Il barone Rizieri Zappalà Panic Button (1964) Via Veneto (1964) White Voices (1964) as 'Orapronobbi' Last Plane to Baalbek (1964) as Pagani Bianco, rosso, giallo, rosa (1964) as Il psichiatra Sedotti e bidonati (1964) as don Marcuzzo Weekend, Italian Style (1966) as Professor Ferri A Maiden for a Prince (1966) as Davide A Question of Honour (1966) as Advocate Mazzullo Shoot Loud, Louder... I Don't Understand (1966) as Carlo Saporito We Still Kill the Old Way (1967) as Deputato Comunista Assicurasi vergine (1967) as Lorenzino Conozza La ragazza del bersagliere (1967) as Sergeant On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who... (1967) as Minor Role Gente d'onore (1967) Escalation (1968) as Il sacerdote / il santone Be Sick... It's Free (1968) as Pietro The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) as Dying Man's Friend La prova generale (1968) The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) as Vittorini The Sicilian Clan (1969) as Turi - l'expert en timbres Togli le gambe dl parabrezza (1969) Rose Spot (1969) as L'attore Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You (1970) as Desk Clerk The Adventures of Gerard (1970) as Marshal Henri Massena The Golden Ass (1970) as Rufinio The Martlet's Tale (1970) Crepa padrone, crepa tranquillo (1970) La Poudre d'escampette (1971) as Le sergent du fort La vacanza (1971) as Judge A Bay of Blood (1971) as Paolo Il sorriso del ragno (1971) Trastevere (1971) as Il professore Stress (1971) Master of Love (1972) as Husband of Fiora Una cavalla tutta nuda (1972) as Marito di Gemmata Every Little Crook and Nanny (1972) as Truffatore Pulp (1972) as Marcovic Anche se volessi lavorare, che faccio? (1972) as Maresciallo Capriotti My Pleasure Is Your Pleasure (1973) Viaggia, ragazza, viaggia, hai la musica nelle vene (1973) Don't Look Now (1973) as Hotel Manager The Lady Has Been Raped (1973) as The psychoanalyst Fischia il sesso (1974) as Leonard Commissariato di notturna (1974) as Brigadiere Spanò L'albero dalle foglie rosa (1974) Don't Hurt Me, My Love (1974) as Avv. Musumeci The Profiteer (1974) The Godfather Part II (1974) as Signor Roberto I baroni (1975) as Il cerimoniere L'ammazzatina (1975) as Tuccio Langatta Vergine e di nome Maria (1975) as Nicola Due cuori, una cappella (1975) as Custode cimitero Son tornate a fiorire le rose (1975) as Pattavina Private Lessons (1975) as The Exhibitionist Hallucination Strip (1975) Perdutamente tuo...mi firmo Macaluso Carmelo fu Giuseppe (1976) as don Calogero Liotta Lezioni di violoncello con toccata e fuga (1976) as Silenzio L'uomo di Corleone (1977) Il giorno dell'Assunta (1977) Caligola (1979) as Charicles The Black Stallion (1979) as Priest L'albero della maldicenza (1979) as Don Cicco Flatfoot in Egypt (1980) as Prof. Coriolano Cerullo Sweet Pea (1981) as The tramp Il marchese del Grillo (1981) as Padre Sabino Malamore (1982) as L'amministratore Trenchcoat (1983) as Esteban Ortega Henry IV (1984) as Psychiatrist Momo (1986) as Beppo The Name of the Rose (1986) as Michele da Cesena Il coraggio di parlare (1987) as Don Bruno Stradivari (1988) as Nicolò Amati Cinema Paradiso (1988) as Father Adelfio Don Bosco (1988) as Don Borel I giorni randagi (1988) as Caronte The Dark Sun (1990) as Alfonso Isgrò Viaggio d'amore (1990) as The Carrettiere Law of Courage (1994) as Mr. Livatino Italia Village (1994) The Star Maker (1995) as Mute Ojos de amatista (1996) Marianna Ucria (1997) as Pretore Camaleo The Prince's Manuscript (2000) as Lucio Piccolo The Council of Egypt (2002) as Padre Salvatore Legami di famiglia (2002) Quota 16 (2011) as Giovanni (final film role)

References

Further reading

External links