Vittorio De Sica

Vittorio De Sica

De Sica in the 1950s
Born 7 July 1901/1902
Sora, Lazio, Italy
Died 13 November 1974 (aged 73)
Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France
Years active 1917 - 1974
Spouse Giuditta Risson (1933-1968)
María Mercader (1968-1974)

Vittorio De Sica (7 July 1901 or 1902 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement.

Contents

Life and career

Born into poverty in Sora, Lazio (in either 1901 or 1902 - sources are divided), he began his career as a theatre actor in the early 1920s and joined Tatiana Pavlova's theatre company in 1923. In 1933 he founded his own company with his wife Giuditta Rissone and Sergio Tofano. The company performed mostly light comedies, but they also staged plays by Beaumarchais, and worked with famous directors like Luchino Visconti. His meeting with Cesare Zavattini was a very important event: together they created some of the most celebrated films of the neorealistic age, like Sciuscià (Shoeshine) and Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves, released as The Bicycle Thief in the U.S.A.), both of which De Sica directed.

De Sica is more well-known in the UK for appearing in the TV Series The Four Just Men produced by Sapphire Films and distributed by ITC Entertainment, originally broadcast in 1959.

De Sica died near Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine on 13 November 1974, aged 72 or 73.

Awards and nominations

Vittorio De Sica was given the Interfilm Grand Prix in 1971 by the Berlin Film Festival

Filmography as director

Feature Films

  • Rose scarlatte (1940) Co-director
  • Maddalena, zero in condotta (1940)
    • Maddalena, Zero for Conduct
  • Teresa Venerdì (1941)
    • Do You Like Women
    • Doctor Beware
  • Un Garibaldino al convento (1942)
    • A Garibaldian in the Convent
  • I bambini ci guardano (1944)
    • The Children Are Watching Us
    • The Little Martyr
  • La Porta del cielo (1945)
    • The Gate of Heaven
  • Sciuscià (1946)
    • Shoeshine
  • Cuore (1948) Co-director
    • Heart
    • Heart and Soul
  • Ladri di biciclette (1948)
    • Bicycle Thieves
    • The Bicycle Thief
  • Miracolo a Milano (1951)
    • Miracle in Milan
  • Umberto D. (1952)
  • Villa Borghese (1953) Co-director
    • It Happened in the Park
  • Stazione Termini (1953)
    • Terminal Station
    • Station Terminus
    • Indiscretion of an American Wife
  • L'oro di Napoli (1954)
    • The Gold of Naples
  • Il Tetto (1956)
    • The Roof
  • Anna di Brooklyn (1958) Co-director
    • Anna of Brooklyn
    • Fast and Sexy
  • La Ciociara (1961)
    • Two Women
  • Il Giudizio universale (1961)
    • The Last Judgement
  • I Sequestrati di Altona (1962)
    • The Condemned of Altona
  • Il Boom (1963)
  • Ieri, oggi e domani (1963)
    • Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
  • Matrimonio all'italiana (1964)
    • Marriage Italian-Style
  • Un monde nouveau (1966)
    • A New World
  • Caccia alla volpe (1966)
    • After the Fox
  • Woman Times Seven (1967)
  • Amanti (1968)
    • A Place for Lovers
  • I Girasoli (1970)
    • Sunflower
  • Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini (1970)
    • The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
  • Lo chiameremo Andrea (1972)
    • We'll Call Him Andrew
  • Una Breve vacanza (1973)
    • A Brief Vacation
  • Il Viaggio (1974)
    • The Voyage

Short Films

Television

Filmography as actor

Note: on many sources, Fontana di Trevi by Carlo Campogalliani (1960) and La pappa reale by Robert Thomas (1964) are included but de Sica does not appear in those films.

Television as actor

References

  1. ↑ "IMDB.com: Awards for Anna di Brooklyn". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051363/awards. Retrieved 2009-12-31. 
  2. ↑ "Berlinale 1971: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1971/03_preistraeger_1971/03_Preistraeger_1971.html. Retrieved 2010-03-14. 

External links

Films directed by Vittorio De Sica
1940s
Rose scarlatte (1940) · Maddalena, zero in condotta (1940) · Teresa Venerdì (1941) · Un garibaldino al convento (1942) · I bambini ci guardano (1944) La porta del cielo (1945) · Sciuscià (1946) · Cuore (1948) · Ladri di biciclette (1948)
1950s
Miracolo a Milano (1951) · Umberto D. (1952) · Villa Borghese (1953) · Stazione Termini (1953) · L'oro di Napoli (1954) · Il Tetto (1956) · Anna di Brooklyn (1958)
1960s
La Ciociara (1961) · Il Giudizio universale (1961) · I sequestrati di Altona (1962) · Il Boom (1963) · Ieri, oggi e domani (1963) · Matrimonio all'italiana (1964) · Un monde nouveau (1966) · Caccia alla volpe (1966) · Woman Times Seven (1967) · Le streghe (1967) · Amanti (1968)
1970s
I girasoli (1970) · Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini (1970) · Lo chiameremo Andrea (1972) · Una Breve vacanza (1973) · Il viaggio (1974)