Vittorio Gassman, Knight Grand Cross, OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [vitˈtɔːrjo ˈɡazman]; born Vittorio Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as Il Mattatore, was an Italian theatre and film actor, as well as director.
Personal life Gassman married three actresses: * 1. Nora Ricci and Child (Paola Gassman, an actress and wife of Ugo Pagliai); ** 2. Shelley Winters and Child (Vittoria Gassman 14 February 1953 in Los Angeles, California USA); *** 3. Diletta D'Andrea, Child (Jacopo Gassman) . In addition, he had an affair with actress Juliette Mayniel Child (Alessandro Gassman 24 February 1965 in Rome, Lazio, Italy) the popular Rai 3 TV show Tunnel in which he very formally and "seriously"' recited documents such as utility bills, yellow pages and similar trivial texts, such as washing instructions for a wool sweater or cookies ingredients. He rendered them with the same professional skill that made him famous while reciting Dante's Divine Comedy.
On 29 June 2000, Gassman died of a heart attack at his home in Rome, aged 77.
Born September 1, 1922 in Genoa, Liguria, Italy
Died June 29, 2000 in Rome, Lazio, Italy (heart attack)
Birth Name Vittorio Gassmann
Nicknames Il Mattatore
The Sir Laurence Olivier of Italy
Height 6' 1½" (1.87 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Vittorio Gassman studied theatre in his youth and was quite a good basketball player. He debuted on stage in 1943 and soon felt home in all classical theatre works. Since 1946 he also worked at the movies and his first big role there was the criminal in Bitter Rice (1949). This fixed him to his main parts: The ambiguous gentleman inflicting pain and pleasure at the same time. He also participated in the Italian comedies and in American movies but the latter with only minor success. As a homage to his passion for the theatre he directed a cinema version of the play Kean: Genius or Scoundrel (1957).
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Volker Boehm
Diletta D'Andrea (7 December 1970 - 29 June 2000) his death 1 child
Shelley Winters (28 April 1952 - 2 June 1954) divorced 1 child
Nora Ricci (June 1943 - 16 April 1967) annulled 1 child
Annette Stroyberg 1961 until 1963
Anna Maria Ferrero 1953 until 1960
Juliette Mayniel 1964 until 1968 1 child M1. Alessandro Gassmann
Elvi Lissiak 1950 until 1952
Trade Mark (1) Powerful, versatile voice
The standard joke on him was that he had such an interesting, flexible voice (and such an outstanding acting ability) that he could have made everything he read entertaining and intense. In mid-90's, a satirical show on Italy national TV gave him a 2 minutes space (named "Gassman Legge", literally "Gassman Reads") where he just "acted" few lines from banal, utterly non-poetic texts, e.g. the Yellow Pages, a blood test report, a telephone bill, the classifieds page in a local newspaper and so on. The segment was a success.
Founded and ran for years one of the most select acting schools.
Shares his birthday with actress Yvonne De Carlo.
Became widely popular with Luchino Visconti's theater company, performing in important plays such as Tennessee Williams' "Un tram che si chiama desiderio" (A Streetcar Named Desire) or William Shakespeare's "Rosalinda".
In his public appearances, he often criticized moderated cultural positions and gained some enemies in the world of art for his frank judgments.
Studied acting at the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica in Rome.
His mother, Luisa Ambron, from Pisa, Tuscany, was an Italian Jew. His father, Heinrich Gassmann, was German, from Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
From 1961 until 1963 he was the partner of actress Annette Stroyberg.
From 1953 until 1960 he was the partner of actress Anna Maria Ferrero.
From 1964 until 1968 he was the partner of actress Juliette Mayniel. They have a son, actor Alessandro Gassmann.
Father of actress Paola Gassman, doctor Vittoria Gassman, actor Alessandro Gassmann and Jacopo Gassman, grandfather of assistant director Tommaso Pagliai.
From 1950 until 1952 he was the partner of actress Elvi Lissiak.
Shelley Winters confesses in her biography that Gassman was traumatized because of his WW2 era, when he served a little among the Facists and he sometimes woke up at night howling like a wolf.
Shelley Winters says in her biography that during the first year of their union she and Gassman could barely understand each other due to the language barrier.
His mother discouraged him from becoming a lawyer so he took up acting instead.
No-one should die. That's the only mistake God ever made.
Men don't understand anything about women and women don't understand anything about men. And it's better that way.
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