Riccardo Cucciolla (5 September 1924 – 17 September 1999) was an Italian actor and voice actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1953 and 1999. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival for the film Sacco & Vanzetti.
Biography Born in Bari, in southern Italy, Cucciolla gained a degree in law, then made his stage debut in an amateur production in his home city. From 1946, he started working in radio as a voice actor and as the narrator of documentaries; at the same time, he started working in cinema, as a dubber and a voice actor.
Cucciolla made his film debut in 1953, in Anton Giulio Majano's Good Folk's Sunday. After some minor roles, he had his first important role in Italiani brava gente (1965), followed by a further significant role in Giuliano Montaldo's Grand Slam (1967).
Cucciolla came to national and international recognition with the leading role in Montaldo's Sacco e Vanzetti, for which he was awarded best actor at Cannes and won a Silver Ribbon. In the wake of that sudden popularity, he intensively worked throughout the decade, alternating notable films with others of more modest quality and ambition. Starting from eighties he thinned out his appearances, mainly focusing on dubbing and television roles. As a dubber, he provided voice-overs for Roger Moore, Claudio Villa, Erland Josephson, John Cazale, Jonathan Pryce, Richard Egan, James Caan, Robert Duvall and more.Cronologia fondamentale dell'epoca d'oro del doppiaggio italiano Dagli albori agli anni 1970 (in Italian)
On 17 September 1999, Cucciolla died in Rome at the age of 75. He is survived by his wife, the poet Alida Sessa; their son Riccardo Mario Cucciolla (historian of the Soviet Union); and two children by his first wife, Francesco and Lietta.
Selected filmography
Good Folk's Sunday (1953) - Cesco I Vitelloni (1953) - Narrator (voice, uncredited) Il seduttore (1954) - Racca Il piccolo vetraio (1955) - (voice) Rascel-Fifì (1957) - Undici Silver Spoon Set (1960) - Anselmo Foresi (voice, uncredited) Love in Rome (1960) - Narrator (uncredited) Primitive Love (1964) - Narrator (uncredited) Attack and Retreat (1964) - Sanna Six Days a Week (1965) Grand Slam (1967) - Agostino Rossi The Seven Cervi Brothers (1968) - Gelindo Cervi Bandits in Rome (1968) - Vice Commissioner Pascuttini La rivoluzione sessuale (1968) - Emilio Missiroli Una sull'altra (1969) - Benjamin Wormser Giacomo Casanova: Childhood and Adolescence (1969) - Narratore (voice, uncredited) Sacco e Vanzetti (1971) - Nicola Sacco The Case Is Closed, Forget It (1971) - Pesenti We Are All in Temporary Liberty (1971) - Mario De Rossi The Sicilian Checkmate (1972) - Professor Salemi Un apprezzato professionista di sicuro avvenire (1972) - Nicola Perella Un flic (1972) - Paul Weber Incensurato provata disonestà carriera assicurata cercasi (1972) - Commissario The Assassination of Matteotti (1973) - Antonio Gramsci No, The Case Is Happily Resolved (1973) - Professor Eduardo Ranieri Paolo il caldo (1973) - Paolo's Father 24 ore... non un minuto di più (1973) - Minister Handras The Sensual Man (1974) - Celio D'Altamura Le Hasard et la Violence (1974) - Dr. Puget (uncredited) High School Girl (1974) Borsalino & Co. (1974) - Volpone Rabid Dogs (1974) - Riccardo The Last Day of School Before Christmas (1975) - Ambro C.I.A. Secret Story (1975) - Giuseppe Pinelli (1975) - Olivares Il fratello (1975) La linea del fiume (1976) - Dr. Roder Take All of Me (1976) - Padre di Stella Meet Him and Die (1976) - Commissioner Sacchi Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison (1977) - Antonio Gramsci Turi and the Paladins (1979) - Don Saverio Il ragazzo di Ebalus (1984) - Old farmer The Assisi Underground (1985) - Luigi Brizzi Una casa in bilico (1986) - Teodoro detto Teo Il coraggio di parlare (1987) - Don Carmelo Fiorillo Remake (1987) - Himself 32 dicembre (1988) - Anselmi, lo spasimante (segment "La gialla farfalla") Il segreto dell'uomo solitario (1988) Vanille fraise (1989) - Andreani (1991) - Massimo Serboli In Calabria (1993) - Narrator (voice) L'Affaire (1994) - Van Doude La voce del cuore (1995, TV Mini-Series) - Antonio Lucky Punch (1996) - Zipolino Our God's Brother (1997) - The Monk
Dubbing roles Live action Fredo Corleone in The Godfather Fredo Corleone in The Godfather Part II Alexander in The Sacrifice Judge Cancedda in I Am Afraid Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies Lee Stegler in Countdown Mr. Hillyer in Rambling Rose
References
Further reading Vito Attolini, Alfonso Marrese. Riccardo Cucciolla. Ritratto di attore. Edizioni Dal Sud, 1990. .
External links