Ottavio "Ugo" Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter.Aldo Bernardini, Ugo Tognazzi, Gremese, 1978, ISBN 88-7605-030-2
He is considered one of the most important faces of Italian comedy together with Vittorio Gassman, Nino Manfredi, Marcello Mastroianni,Teche RAI Consultato il 18 agosto 2016Treccani — Enciclopedia del Cinema (2003) — Scheda di M. d'Amico — Consultato il 18 agosto 2016 and Alberto Sordi.
Early life Tognazzi was born in Cremona in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk for an insurance company.
After his return to his native city in 1936 he worked in a cured meats production plant where he achieved the position of accountant. During World War II he was inducted into the Army and returned home after the Armistice of 8 September 1943, and joined the Black Brigades for a while. His passion for theater and acting dates from his early years, and also during the conflict when he organized shows for his fellow soldiers. In 1945, he moved to Milan, where he was enrolled in the theatrical company led by Wanda Osiris. A few years later, he formed his own successful musical revue company.
Career In 1950, Tognazzi made his cinematic debut in The Cadets of Gascony directed by Mario Mattoli. The following year, he met Raimondo Vianello, with whom he formed a successful comedy duo for the new-born RAI TV (1954–1960). Their shows, sometimes containing satirical material, were among the first to be censored on Italian television.
After the successful role in The Fascist (Il Federale) (1961), directed by Luciano Salce, Tognazzi became one of the most renowned characters of the so-called Commedia all'Italiana (Italian comedy style). He worked with all the main directors of Italian cinema, including Mario Monicelli (My Friends), Marco Ferreri (La Grande Bouffe), Carlo Lizzani (La vita agra), Dino Risi, Pier Paolo Pasolini (Pigsty), Ettore Scola, Alberto Lattuada, Nanni Loy, Pupi Avati and others. Tognazzi also directed some of his films, including the 1967 film The Seventh Floor. The film was entered into the 17th Berlin International Film Festival.
He was a well-known actor in Italy and starred in several important international films, which brought him fame in other parts of the world.
Roger Vadim cast Tognazzi as Mark Hand, the Catchman, in Barbarella (1968). He rescues Barbarella (Jane Fonda) from the biting dolls she encounters, and after her rescue, he requests payment by asking her to have sex with him (the "old-fashioned" way, not the psycho-cardiopathic way of their future).
In 1981, he won the Best Male Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. While he worked primarily in Italian cinema, Tognazzi is perhaps best remembered for his role as Renato Baldi, the gay owner of a St. Tropez nightclub, in the 1978 French comedy La Cage aux Folles, which became the highest grossing foreign film ever released in the U.S.
Personal life and death Tognazzi had various relationships during his life. He was married to actresses Margarete Robsahm and later Franca Bettoia. He had four children from three different women: his sons Ricky Tognazzi (born 1955) and Gianmarco Tognazzi (born 1967) are actors; another son, Thomas Robsahm (born 1964), is a Norwegian film director and producer; his daughter, Maria Sole Tognazzi (born 1971), is also a film director.
Tognazzi died of a brain hemorrhage in Rome on 27 October 1990. He was 68. There were rumors that his chronic depression led to suicide. He is buried in the cemetery of Velletri.
Filmography
Actor
The Cadets of Gascony (1950) as Ugo Bossi La paura fa 90 (1951) as Anastasio Lapin / Saverio Bompignac Una bruna indiavolata (1951) as Carlo Soldi Auguri e figli maschi (1951) as Mario The Enchanting Enemy (1953) as Direttore della fabbrica Love in the City (1953) as Himself (segment "Italiani si voltano, Gli") Sua altezza ha detto: no! (1953) as Ronchi Siamo tutti milanesi (1953) as Filippo If You Won a Hundred Million (1953) as Ugo (segment "Il principale") Café Chantant (1953) as Se stesso / Himself Assi alla ribalta (1954) as Himself Laugh! Laugh! Laugh! (1954) as Dottore Milanese in Naples (1954) as Franco Baraldi La moglie è uguale per tutti (1955) as Ugo Domenica è sempre domenica (1958) as Ugo Toto in the Moon (1958) as Achille Paoloni Mia nonna poliziotto (1958) as Lucio Marinai, donne e guai (1958) as Domenico Campana Il terribile Teodoro (1958) Guardatele ma non toccatele (1959) as Maresciallo Valentino La Notte Fantasmi e ladri (1959) as Gaetano Non perdiamo la testa (1959) as Tony Cuccar Policarpo (1959) as The Starched Professor (uncredited) Le cameriere (1959) as Mario, il Ladro Le Confident de ces dames (1959) as Cesar Noi siamo due evasi (1959) as Bernardo Cesarotti La duchessa di Santa Lucia (1959) as L'avvocato La cambiale (1959) as Alfredo Balzarini La pica sul Pacifico (1959) as Roberto De Nobel Tipi da spiaggia (1959) as Pasubio Giovinezza The Sheriff (1959) as Colorado Joe I baccanali di Tiberio (1960) as Primo, the Driver Genitori in blue jeans (1960) as Renzino Il principe fusto (1960) as Frate My Friend, Dr. Jekyll (1960) as Professor Fabius / Giacinto Floria Le olimpiadi dei mariti (1960) as Ugo Bitetti Femmine di lusso (1960) as Ugo Lemeni Un dollaro di fifa (1960) as Alamo Tu che ne dici? (1960) as Solitario Some Like It Cold (1960) as Ugo Bevilacqua Gli incensurati (1961) as Farinon Sua Eccellenza si fermò a mangiare (1961) as Ernesto The Joy of Living (1961) as 1. Anarchist The Fascist (1961) as Primo Arcovazzi Cinque marines per cento ragazze (1961) as Sergente Imparato La ragazza di mille mesi (1961) as Maurizio d'Alteni His Women (1961) as Stefano Garbelli (uncredited) I magnifici tre (1961) as Domingo Pugni pupe e marinai (1961) as Capo Campana / Tognazzi Una domenica d'estate (1962) Crazy Desire (1962) as Antonio Berlinghieri Psycosissimo (1962) as Ugo Bertolazzi A Girl... and a Million (1962) as Un automobilista (uncredited) I tromboni di fra' Diavolo (1962) as Sergente Visicato I motorizzati (1962) as Achille Pestani March on Rome (1962) as Umberto Gavazza La donna degli altri è sempre più bella (1963) as Himself (segment "La luna di miele") The Shortest Day (1963) as Pecoraio Ro.Go.Pa.G. (1963) as Togni (segment "Il pollo ruspante") The Hours of Love (1963) as Gianni The Conjugal Bed (1963) as Alfonso I mostri (1963) as The Father (segment "L'Educazione sentimentale"); Policeman (segment "Il Mostro"); Stefano (segment "Come un Padre"); Battacchi (segment "Il povero Soldato"); L'Onorevole (segment "La Giornata dell'Onorevole"); Latin Lover (segment "Latin Lovers-Amanti latini"); Pilade Fioravanti (segment "Testimone volontario"); The Traffic Warden (segment "L'Agguato"); The Car Owner (segment "Vernissage"); The Man at Cinema (segment "Scenda l'Oblio"); The Husband (segment "L'Oppio dei Popoli"); Guarnacci (segment "La nobile Arte") Outlaws of Love (1963) as Vasco Timballo Le motorizzate (1963) La donna degli altri è sempre più bella (1963) as Himself (segment "La luna di miele") High Infidelity (1964) as Cesare (segment "Gente Moderna") Liolà (1964) as Liolà The Ape Woman (1964) as Antonio Focaccia La vita agra (1964) as Luciano Bianchi The Magnificent Cuckold (1964) as Andrea Artusi Countersex (1964) as The professor (segment "Professore, Il") Run for Your Wife (1965) as Riccardo Vanzi I Complessi (1965) as Prof. Gildo Beozi (segment "Il Complesso della Schiava nubiana") I Knew Her Well (1965) as Gigi Baggini Kiss the Other Sheik (1965) as Man With Car (segment "L'uomo dei 5 palloni") (uncredited) Menage all'italiana (1965) as Carlo Vignola Federico Valdesi Break-up (1965) as Man With Car Follie d'estate (1966) Marcia nuziale (1966) as Frank A Question of Honour (1966) as Efisio Mulas Our Husbands (1966) as Appuntato Umberto Codegato (segment "Il Marito di Attilia") Pleasant Nights (1966) as Uguccione de' Tornaquinci The Seventh Floor (1967) as Giuseppe Inzerna The Climax (1967) as Sergio Masini The Head of the Family (1967) as Remo Gli altri, gli altri... e noi (1967) Her Harem (1967) as Himself (uncredited) Torture Me But Kill Me with Kisses (1968) as Umberto Ciceri Barbarella (1968) as Mark Hand Dismissed on His Wedding Night (1968) as Oscar Pettini La bambolona (1968) as Giulio Broggini Satyricon (1969) as Trimalchione Pigsty (1969) as Herdhitze Police Chief Pepe (1969) as Commissario Antonio Pepe The Conspirators (1969) as Cardinal Agostino Rivarola Lonely Hearts (1970) as Stefano Venga a prendere il caffè... da noi (1970) as Emerenziano Paronzini Splendori e miserie di Madame Royale (1970) as Alessio / Madame Royale Lady Caliph (1970) as Annibale Doberdò - il proprietario della fabbrica La supertestimone (1971) as Marino Bottecchia detto 'Mocassino' In the Name of the Italian People (1971) as Mariano Bonifazi Stanza 17-17, palazzo delle tasse, ufficio imposte (1971) as Ugo La Strizza This Kind of Love (1972) as Federico / Federico's father The Audience (1972) as Aureliano Diaz The Master and Margaret (1972) as Nikolaj Afanasijevic Maksudov 'Maestro' Il generale dorme in piedi (1972) as Col. Umberto Leone We Want the Colonels (1973) as Onorevole Giuseppe 'Beppe' Tritoni La Grande Bouffe (1973) as Ugo Property Is No Longer a Theft (1973) as The Butcher Don't Touch the White Woman! (1974) as Mitch Claretta and Ben (1974) as Gino Pistone Come Home and Meet My Wife (1974) as Giulio Basletti La mazurka del barone, della santa e del fico fiorone (1975) as Baron Anteo Pellacani Weak Spot (1975) as Georgis My Friends (1975) as Lello Mascetti Duck in Orange Sauce (1975) as Livio Stefani Al piacere di rivederla (1976) as Mario Aldara The Career of a Chambermaid (1976) as Adelmo Evil Thoughts (1976) as Mario Marani Goodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen (1976) as General in Toilet The Bishop's Bedroom (1977) as Temistocle Mario Orimbelli Beach House (1977) as Alfredo Cerquetti The Cat (1977) as Amedeo Pecoraro I nuovi mostri (1977) as Il marito (segment "L'uccellino della Val Padana") / Il cuoco (segment "Hostaria") / Il figlio (segment "Mammina mammona") Nenè (1977) as 'Baffo' - the barber (uncredited) The Payoff (1978) as Il commissario Assenza First Love (1978) as Ugo La Cage aux Folles (1978) as Renato Baldi Where Are You Going on Holiday? (1978) as Enrico (segment "Sarò tutta per te") Traffic Jam (1979) as Professor I viaggiatori della sera (1979) as Orso Banti I'm Photogenic (1980) as Himself (uncredited) La terrazza (1980) as Amedeo Arrivano i bersaglieri (1980) as Don Prospero Sunday Lovers (1980) as Armando (segment "Armando's Notebook") La Cage aux Folles II (1980) as Renato Baldi Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (1981) as Primo Spaggiari Scusa se è poco (1982) as Carlo Reani All My Friends Part 2 (1982) as Conte Raffaello Mascetti The Key (1983) as Un ubriaco (cameo) A Joke of Destiny (1983) as On. Vincenzo De Andreiis Petomaniac (1983) as Joseph Pujol Dagobert (1984) as La pape Honorius et son sosie Bertoldo, Bertoldino e Cacasenno (1984) as Bertoldo Fatto su misura (1984) as Dottor Nathan La Cage aux folles 3 - 'Elles' se marient (1985) as Renato Baldi Amici miei – Atto III (1985) as Lello Mascetti The Last Minute (1987) as Walter Ferroni Arrivederci e grazie (1988) as Carlo Days of Inspector Ambrosio (1988) as Giulio Ambrosio Tolérance (1989) as Marmant The Battle of the Three Kings (1990) as Carlo di Palma
Director Il mantenuto (1961) Il fischio al naso (1967) Dismissed on His Wedding Night (1968) Cattivi pensieri (1976) I viaggiatori della sera (1979)
References
External links