Adolfo Celi

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Adolfo Celi as Emilio Largo in Thunderball.

Adolfo Celi (July 27, 1922 –February 19, 1986) was an Italian film actor and director.

Born in Messina (Sicily), Celi appeared in nearly 100 movies, specializing in international villains. He most famous role was as Emilio Largo in the 1965 James Bond movie Thunderball. He was also appeared as a protagonist in some Italian comedies like Brancaleone alle Crociate.

Celi was fluent in several languages, but his thick Sicilian accent meant that he was usually dubbed when appearing in an English language film. For example, Robert Rietti provided his voice in both Thunderball and That Man from Rio. However, in the BBC serial The Borgias (in which he played Rodrigo Borgia), made in 1981, Celi's accent was not dubbed,and his strong accent made much of his dialogue unintelligible and hard to follow, and it was heavily derided by TV critics and audiences alike at the time.

Celi was also successful as a stage actor for two decades in Argentina and Brazil, where he owned an actors' company along with brazilian stage greats Paulo Autran and Tonia Carrero. He directed three films in South America.

Celi was married three times. He died of a heart attack in Rome in 1986.