Lamberto Maggiorani
Lamberto Maggiorani (28 August 1909 – 22 April 1983) was an Italian actor remembered for his portrayal of Antonio Ricci in the 1948 Vittorio De Sica film Bicycle Thieves.[1]
Lamberto Maggiorani | |
|---|---|
_Lamberto_Maggiorani_(4).png.webp) Maggiorani in Bicycle Thieves (1948) | |
| Born | 28 August 1909 Rome, Italy |
| Died | 22 April 1983 (aged 73) Rome, Italy |
| Years active | 1948–1970 |
He was a factory worker (he worked as a turner) and a non-professional actor at the time he was cast in this film.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] Pier Paolo Pasolini gave him a bit part in the film Mamma Roma (1962) due to his iconic status in Italian cinema.[4] 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.[4]
Maggiorani died in Rome in 1983 at the San Giovanni hospital without ever regaining his first success as a film actor.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Ladri di biciclette | Antonio | |
| 1949 | Twenty Years | ||
| 1950 | Women Without Names | Anna's Fiancé | |
| 1951 | A Tale of Five Cities | ||
| 1951 | Achtung! Banditi! | Marco | |
| 1951 | Anna | Il malato ferito allo stomaco | |
| 1951 | Salvate mia figlia | ||
| 1952 | Umberto D. | Uncredited | |
| 1954 | Via Padova 46 | The Porter in Via Padova | |
| 1954 | Vacation with a Gangster | Il galeotto innocente N. 5823 | |
| 1955 | Don Camillo e l'on. Peppone | ||
| 1956 | Totò, Peppino e i... fuorilegge | Un bandito | |
| 1961 | Il giudizio universale | Poor man | |
| 1962 | Mamma Roma | Un malato (Sick man) | |
| 1963 | Mare matto | L'uomo che paga l'ingaggio | |
| 1970 | Ostia | Padre di Monica | (final film role) |
References
- AP. "Lamberto Maggiorani Dead; Starred in 'The Bicycle Thief'". Retrieved 2018-04-15.
- "The Stolen Bicycle". TIME. January 16, 1950. Archived from the original on January 21, 2010.
- Inc, Time (23 Jan 1950). "Fame Mocks a Movie Star". Life. pp. 56–60. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
{{cite magazine}}:|last1=has generic name (help) - Gordon, Robert (2008). Bicycle Thieves (Ladri Di Biciclette). New York: Macmillan. p. 11. ISBN 978-1844572380. Retrieved 18 August 2015.