Lamberto Maggiorani
| Lamberto Maggiorani | |
|---|---|
 Lamberto Maggiorani in Ladri di Biciclette. | |
| Born |
August 28, 1909 Rome, Italy |
| Died |
April 22, 1983 (aged 73) Rome, Italy |
| Years active | 1948 - 1970 |
Lamberto Maggiorani (28 August 1909 in Rome – 22 April 1983 in Rome) was an Italian actor notable for his portrayal of Antonio Ricci in Bicycle Thieves.
He was a factory worker (he worked as a turner) and non-professional actor at the time he was cast in this film.[1] He earned 600,000 lire ($1,000 US) for his performance, enabling him to buy new furniture and treat his family to a vacation; but when he returned to the factory he was laid off because business was slackening and management felt it would be fairer to terminate him instead of other impoverished co-workers since he was perceived to have "made millions" as a movie star.[2] He found occasional work as a bricklayer, but continued to try to get roles in movies, with little success; even de Sica was reluctant to employ him as anything other than an extra.[3] Pier Paolo Pasolini gave him a bit part in the film Mamma Roma (1962) due to his iconic status in Italian cinema.[3] Cesare Zavattini, the screenwriter for Bicycle Thieves, aware of Maggiorani's predicament, wrote a screenplay about him titled "Tu, Maggiorani", in an attempt to demonstrate the limits of neorealist film's capacity to change the world.[3]
Maggiorani died in Rome in 1983 at the San Giovanni hospital without ever regaining his first success as a film actor.
Filmography
- Ladri di biciclette (1948)
- Vent'anni (1949)
- Women Without Names (1950)
- Anna (1951)
- Vacation with a Gangster (1951)
- Achtung! Banditi! (1951)
- Salvate mia figlia (1951)
- A Tale of Five Cities (1951)
- Umberto D. (1952) (uncredited)
- Via Padova 46 (1954)
- Don Camillo e l'on. Peppone (1955)
- Totò, Peppino e i... fuorilegge (1956)
- Il giudizio universale (1961)
- Mamma Roma (1962)
- Mare matto (1963)
- Ostia (1970)
References
- ↑ "The Stolen Bicycle". TIME. January 16, 1950.
- ↑ "Fame Mocks a Movie Star". Life: 56–60. 23 Jan 1950. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- 1 2 3 Gordon, Robert (2008). Bicycle Thieves (Ladri Di Biciclette). New York: Macmillan. p. 11. ISBN 1844572382. Retrieved 18 August 2015.