Lamberto Maggiorani

Lamberto Maggiorani

Lamberto Maggiorani in Ladri di Biciclette.
Born (1909-08-28)28 August 1909
Rome, Italy
Died 22 April 1983(1983-04-22) (aged 73)
Rome, Italy
Years active 1948 - 1970

Lamberto Maggiorani (28 August 1909 in Rome – 22 April 1983 in Rome) was an Italian actor remembered for his portrayal of Antonio Ricci in the 1948 Vittorio De Sica film 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

References

  1. ↑ "The Stolen Bicycle". TIME. January 16, 1950.
  2. ↑ Inc, Time (23 Jan 1950). "Fame Mocks a Movie Star". Life: 56–60. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Gordon, Robert (2008). Bicycle Thieves (Ladri Di Biciclette). New York: Macmillan. p. 11. ISBN 1844572382. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
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