| Christian De Sica | |
|---|---|
Christian De Sica, June 21, 2007 |
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| Born | 5 January 1951 Rome, Italy |
| Occupation | Actor, director, scriptwriter |
Christian De Sica (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkristjan de ˈsiːka]) (born 5 January 1951) is an Italian actor, director and scriptwriter.
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De Sica was born in Rome, Italy, the second son of Italian director Vittorio De Sica and Spanish actress María Mercader. After attending liceo classico in Rome, he worked in a hotel in Venezuela, where he began his career as an artist. He enrolled in "Lettere" (Literature and Arts) at La Sapienza university (1970), but did not reach a degree.
He was attracted to music, and participated in the Sanremo Festival singing "Mondo mio" ("My world") (1973). However, the results convinced him to follow in his father's footsteps and devote himself to acting. De Sica developed his own style of comedy and entertainment also in Rai television shows, as Bambole, non c'è una lira which gave him a large success in 1978.
With his father's help, he was able to take his first steps in the movies world with such teachers and mentors as Roberto Rossellini (Blaise Pascal, 1971), Vittorio De Sica himself (Una breve vacanza, 1973), Pupi Avati (Bordella, 1976) and Salvatore Samperi (1979 Liquirizia and 1981 Casta e pura).
He married Silvia Verdone, sister of Carlo, with whom he had two children Brando and Mariarosa. He was directed by Verdone in Borotalco (1982) and Compagni di scuola (1988).
After Night club, the last film directed by Italian director Sergio Corbucci, Christian De Sica became one of the most famous interpreters of the "cine-panettone" (comedies that reach movie theatres during the Christmas season) and formed till 2005 a couple with actor Massimo Boldi. They acted together in the series of Vacanze di Natale and A spasso nel tempo, Paparazzi (1998) (1998), Tifosi (1999) (1999) and Christmas in Love (2001) (2004). Afterwards, he played with actor Neri Parenti in Natale a New York (2006), Natale in crociera (2007) and Natale a Rio (2008).
As an actor, De Sica won three David di Donatello: a prize for Giovannino in 1976, a special one together with Massimo Boldi in 2000, and a third one in 2009.
Since 1990 Christian De Sica has also been a director: he debuted with Faccione, whose script he wrote and tailor-made for actress Nadia Rinaldi. After Il conte Max, a homage to the cinema of his father and of Mario Camerini, that he interpreted with Ornella Muti, Anita Ekberg and his mother Maria Mercader, De Sica went on self-directing in Ricky e Barabba (1992), Uomini uomini uomini (1995), Tre (1996), Simpatici & antipatici (1998) and The Clan (2005).
A great admirer of Frank Sinatra and above all of Marlon Brando, he named his first child Brando in honor of the American actor. Criticism has often likened his acting to that of Alberto Sordi, from whom De Sica has drawn a lot of his expressions.