ABSTRACT
Actor Eventually to become one of the best-known and best-loved faces of Italian postwar cinema and a constant presence in the films of the so-called commedia all’italiana (comedy Italian style), Nino Manfredi was formally trained at Rome’s Academy of Theatre from which he graduated in 1947. His film career was launched by two collaborations with Mauro Bolognini in 1956, and his talent was then impressively confirmed in 1958 with the first of the six films he made with director Dino Risi, Venezia, la luna e tu (Venice, the Moon and You). He co-starred in a number of classic comedies with Alberto Sordi and Vittorio Gassman, and gave what is considered one his very best performances in Ettore Scola’s C’eravamo tanto amati (We Loved Each Other So Much) (1974). Although he continued making films into the 1990s, he is perhaps best remembered for his performance in what is regarded as the most brilliant and representative film of the commedia all’italiana, Pane e cioccolata (Bread and Chocolate), directed by Franco Brusati in 1973.
