Vittorio Gassman

Vittorio Gassman died of a heart attack on June 29, 2000 at the age of 77. Gassman was in my head since Burt Reynolds' Sharkey's Machine which would have been around the early 80s. For some reason I remember some of the cast in that movie. I never really thought about Gassman again until I saw Sleepers, which I thought only partially effective. Of the many strong actors in that film (DeNiro, Pitt, Patric), I was most impressed by the old man who played "King Benny." Turns out it was Gassman.

Previously I had purchased what is still probably my favorite "coffee table" book. It's called Hollywood at Home with pix by Sid Avery. I always loved it because there's some really great photos, including several each of favorites like Dean Martin, Glenn Ford and Steve McQueen. There were a couple of cool pix of this cat Gassman at home with his then-wife, Shelley Winters(!). Wisely he pulled out of that marriage when he realized that neither he nor Shelley could control her eating.

Born September 1, 1922, in Genoa, Italy, Vittorio Gassman, was known as the living (now dead) glory of the Italian theatre. He studied theatre in his youth and was a quite good basketball player. He debuted on stage in 1943 and soon felt home in all classical theatre works. Since 1946 he also worked at the movies and his first big role there was the criminal in "Riso amaro" (1948). This fixed him to his main parts: The ambigous gentleman inflicting pain and pleasure at the same time. He also participated in the Italian comedies and in American movies but the latter with only minor success.

Spouses
Diletta D'Andrea (1972 - 29 June 2000) (his death)
Shelley Winters (1952 - 1954) (divorced); 1 daughter Vittoria-Gina
Nora Ricci (1944 - 1952) (divorced); 1 daughter Paola Gassman

Father of Alessandro Gassman by Juliette Mayniel (1965)

Personal quote:
No-one should die. That's the only mistake God ever made.

Films include:
La Bomba (1999)
Sleepers (1996) .... King Benny
The Palermo Connection (1990) .... Il Principe
The Sleazy Uncle (1989) .... Uncle Luca
Tempest (1982) .... Alonzo
Sharky's Machine (1981) .... Victor
Nude Bomb, The (1980) .... Sauvage/Sieeve
Quintet (1979) .... Saint Christopher
Wedding, A (1978) .... Luigi Corelli
Scent of a Woman (Profumo di donna) (1974) .... Il capitano Fausto Consolo
The Twelve Chairs (1970) .... Mario
Barabbas (1962) .... Sahak
Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958) .... Peppe
War and Peace (1956) .... Anatole
Rhapsody (1954) .... Paul Bronte
Cry of the Hunted (1953) .... Jory
The Glass Wall (1953) .... Peter
Riso amaro (1948)
Preludio d'amore (1946) .... Davide