Tullio Pinelli

Tullio Pinelli

Tullio Pinelli by Damian Pettigrew (2002)
Born 24 June 1908
Turin, Piedmont, Italy
Died 7 March 2009 (aged 100)
Rome, Italy
Occupation Playwright/Screenwriter
Years active 1944—2009
Spouse(s) Madeleine LeBeau (1988-2009)

Tullio Pinelli (24 June 1908 – 7 March 2009) was an Italian screenwriter best known for his work on the Federico Fellini classics I Vitelloni, La Strada, La Dolce Vita and 8½.

Biography

Born in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, Pinelli began his career as a civil lawyer but spent his free time working in the theatre as a playwright. Descended from a long line of Italian patriots, his great-uncle General Ferdinando Pinelli quashed the bandit revolt in Calabria following Italian unification.[1]

He first met Fellini in a Rome kiosk in 1947 while they were reading opposite pages of the same newspaper. "Meeting each other," explained Pinelli, "was a creative lightning bolt. We spoke the same language from the start... We were fantasizing about a screenplay that would be the exact opposite of what was fashionable then: the story of a very shy and modest office worker who discovered he can fly; so he flaps his arms and escapes out the window. It certainly wasn't Italian neorealism. But the idea never went anywhere either."[2] The anecdote about flying presages the opening scene of 8½ (1963) in which the protagonist, a prominent film director, who dreams of escape by flying out of his car caught in a traffic jam.

Pinelli died on 7 March 2009 in Rome. He was married to the French-born actress Madeleine LeBeau, who had roles in 8½ and Casablanca (1942).

Selected filmography

References

  1. ↑ Tullio Kezich, Federico Fellini: His Life and Work, Faber and Faber, Inc., 2006, p. 96.
  2. ↑ Kezich, Federico Fellini: His Life and Work, p. 96

Bibliography

External links