Totò

Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi De Curtis di Bisanzio (15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967), best known by his stage name Totò (Italian: [toˈtɔ]), or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed il principe della risata ("the prince of laughter"), was an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter, dramatist, poet, singer and lyricist. He is commonly referred to as one of the most popular Italian performers of all time. While best known for his funny and sometimes cynical comic characters in theatre and then many successful comedy films made from the 1940s to the 1960s, he also worked with many iconic Italian film directors in dramatic roles.

Totò was born Antonio Vincenzo Stefano Clemente on 15 February 1898 in the Rione Sanità, a poor district of Naples, the illegitimate son of Anna Clemente (1881–1947), a Sicilian woman, and the Neapolitan marquis Giuseppe de Curtis (1873–1944). His father did not legally recognize him, and Totò so regretted growing up without a father that in 1933, at age 35, he managed to have the marquis Francesco Maria Gagliardi Focas adopt him in exchange for a life annuity. As a consequence, when Marquis de Curtis finally recognized him in 1937 Totò had become an heir of two noble families, ultimately claiming an impressive slew of titles.

Totò's mother wanted him to become a priest, but as early as 1913, at the age of 15, he was already acting as a comedian in small theatres, under the pseudonym Clerment. His early repertoire mostly consisted in imitations of Gustavo De Marco's characters. In the minor venues where he performed, Totò had the chance to meet famous artists like Eduardo and Peppino De Filippo. He served in the Italian Army during World War I and then went back to acting. He learned the art of the guitti, the Neapolitan scriptless comedians, heirs to the tradition of the Commedia dell'Arte, and began developing the trademarks of his style, including a puppet-like, disjointed gesticulation, emphasized facial expressions, and an extreme, sometimes surrealistic, sense of humor, largely based on emphasizing primitive urges such as hunger and sexual desire.

In 1922, he moved to Rome to perform in bigger theatres. He performed in the genre of avanspettacolo, a vaudevillian mixture of music, ballet and comedy preceding the main act (hence its name, which roughly translates as "before show"). He became adept at these shows (also known as rivista – Revue), and in the 1930s he had his own company, with which he travelled across Italy. In 1937, he appeared in his first movie Fermo con le mani, and later starred in 96 other films.

As the vast majority of his movies were essentially meant to showcase his performances, many have his name "Totò" in the title. Some of his best-known films are Fifa e Arena, Totò al Giro d'Italia, Totò Sceicco, Guardie e ladri, Totò e le donne, Totò Tarzan, Totò terzo uomo, Totò a colori (one of the first Italian color movies, 1952, in Ferraniacolor), I soliti ignoti, Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina, La legge è legge. Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Hawks and the Sparrows and the episode "Che cosa sono le nuvole" from Capriccio all'italiana (the latter released after his death), showed his dramatic skills.

In his vast cinematographic career, Totò had the opportunity to act side by side with virtually all major Italian actors of the time. With some of them he paired in several films, the most renowned and successful teams being established with Aldo Fabrizi and Peppino De Filippo. De Filippo was one of the few actors to have his name appear in movie titles along with that of Totò, for example in Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina and Totò e Peppino divisi a Berlino.

Partly because of the radical, naive immorality of his roles, some of his more spicy gags raised much controversy in a society that was both strictly Catholic and ruled by the conservative Democrazia Cristiana (Christian Democracy) party. For example, Totò's 1964 movie Che fine ha fatto Totò Baby? (a parody of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?) included a humorous celebration of cannabis in an era when drugs were perceived by the Italian audience as something exotic, depraved and dangerous.

Writing

During the 1950s, he started to compose poetry. The best-known is probably 'A Livella, in which an arrogant rich man and a humble poor man meet after their deaths and discuss their differences. Totò was also a songwriter: Malafemmena (Wayward Woman), dedicated to his wife Diana after they separated, is considered a classic of the Neapolitan popular music.

Totò had a reputation as a playboy. One of his lovers, the well known chanteuse and dancer Liliana Castagnola [it], committed suicide after their relationship ended. This tragedy marked his life. He buried Liliana in his family's chapel, and named his only daughter Liliana (born 10 May 1933 to his wife, Diana Bandini Rogliani, whom he married in 1935).

Another personal tragedy was the premature birth of his son Massenzio in 1954. The child died a few hours later. He was the son of Totò's mistress Franca Faldini. During a tour in 1956, he lost most of his eyesight due to an eye infection that he had ignored to avoid cancelling his show and disappointing his fans. Arguably however, the handicap almost never affected his schedule and acting abilities.

Totò died at the age of 69 on 15 April 1967 in Rome after a series of heart attacks. Due to overwhelming demand, there were no fewer than three funeral services: the first in Rome, a second in his birth city of Naples—and a few days later, in a third one by the local Camorra boss, an empty casket was carried along the packed streets of the popular Rione Sanità quarter where he was born.

In 1946, when the Consulta Araldica—the body that advised the Kingdom of Italy on matters of nobility—ceased operations, the Tribunal of Naples recognized his numerous titles, so his complete name was changed from Antonio Clemente to Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Ducas Komnenos Gagliardi de Curtis of Byzantium, His Imperial Highness, Palatine Count, Knight of the Holy Roman Empire, Exarch of Ravenna, Duke of Macedonia and Illyria, Prince of Constantinople, Cilicia, Thessaly, Pontus, Moldavia, Dardania, Peloponnesus, Count of Cyprus and Epirus, Count and Duke of Drivasto and Durazzo. For someone born and raised in one of the poorest Neapolitan neighbourhoods, this must have been quite an achievement, but in claiming the titles (at the time they had become meaningless) the comedian also mocked them for their intrinsic worthlessness. In fact, when he was not using his stage name Totò, he mostly referred to himself simply as Antonio de Curtis.

Actor

Totò starred in 97 films:

Screenwriter

• Il medico dei pazzi
• Totò all'inferno
• Siamo uomini o caporali
• Il coraggio
• I due marescialli

• TuttoTotò (1967, aired posthumously)

• Giancarlo Governi. Il pianeta Totò. Gremese, 1992. ISBN 887605703X.
• Liliana De Curtis, Matilde Amorosi. Totò a prescindere. Mondadori, 1992. ISBN 8804584521.
• Ennio Bìspuri. Totò: principe clown. Guida Editori, 1997. ISBN 8871881575.
• Alberto Anile. Il cinema di Totò: (1930-1945) : l'estro funambolo e l'ameno spettro. Le mani, 1997. ISBN 8880120514.
• Associazione Antonio De Curtis. Totò, partenopeo e parte napoletano: il teatro, la poesia, la musica. Marsilio, 1998. ISBN 8831770861.
• Alberto Anile. I film di Totò (1946-1967): la maschera tradita. Le mani, 1998.
• Costanzo Ioni, Ruggero Guarini. Tutto Totò. Gremese Editore, 1999. ISBN 8877423277.
• Ennio Bìspuri. Vita di Totò. Gremese Editore, 2000. ISBN 8884400023.
• Franca Faldini, Goffredo Fofi. Totò: l'uomo e la maschera. L'Ancora del Mediterraneo, 2000. ISBN 8883250133.
• Paolo Pistolese. Totò, stars and stripes. Cinecittà, 2000.
• Orio Caldiron. Totò. Gremese Editore, 2001. ISBN 8877424133.
• Antonio Napolitano. Totò, uno e centomila. Tempo Lungo Ed., 2001. ISBN 8887480141.
• Fabio Rossi. La lingua in gioco: da Totò a lezione di retorica. Bulzoni, 2002. ISBN 888319697X.
• Orio Caldiron. Il principe Totò. Gremese Editore, 2002. ISBN 8884402166.
• Liliana De Curtis. Totò, mio padre. Rizzoli, 2002. ISBN 8817117579.
• Daniela Aronica, Gino Frezza, Raffaele Pinto. Totò. Linguaggi e maschere del comico. Carocci, 2003. ISBN 8843027867.
• Patricia Bianchi, Nicola De Blasi. Totò parole di attore e di poeta. Dante & Descartes, 2007. ISBN 8861570127.
• Sonia Pedalino. Totò e la maschera. Firenze Atheneum, 2007. ISBN 8872553040.
• Edmondo Capecelatro, Daniele Gallo. Totò: vita e arte di un genio. Viator, 2008. ISBN 8890387203.
• Liliana De Curtis, Matilde Amorosi. Malafemmena: il romanzo dell'unico, vero, grande amore di Totò. Mondadori, 2009. ISBN 8804584521.
• Ornella Di Russo. Cogito ergo De Curtis. Fermenti, 2013. ISBN 8897171389.