Domenico "Memo" Benassi (21 June 1886 – 24 February 1957) was an Italian stage and film actor who appeared in more than forty films in a mixture of leading and supporting roles.
Memo Benassi | |
|---|---|
 Memo Benassi on stage (1942) | |
| Born | Domenico Benassi 21 June 1886 |
| Died | 24 February 1957 (aged 70) Bologna, Emilia-Romagna Italy |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1916–1955 (film) |
Life and career
editBorn in Sorbolo, Benassi initially formed as a musician, studying cello at the Parma Conservatory.[1] His professional acting career was launched in the late 1910s by Gualtiero Tumiati, who offered him a role in his stage company after noting him during an amateur theatrical performance.[1] He was later enrolled in several major theater companies of the time, notably working with Eleonora Duse and Emma and Irma Gramatica.[1] In 1925, he formed his own stage company.[1] He made his film debut in 1932, and had main roles in films by Alessandro Blasetti and Max Ophüls, among others.[1] He played the composer Beethoven in the 1942 film Rossini.[2] After the war, he mostly focused on his theatrical career, working with Giorgio Strehler and Luchino Visconti.[1]
Selected filmography
edit- Notte di tempesta (1916)
- Mimì e gli straccioni (1916)
- Il gioiello sinistro (1917)
- La nemica (1917)
- Margheritella (1918)
- La scala di seta (1920)
- The Love Letters of Baroness S (1924) - Straßenmusikant Giovanni
- The Adventures of Sybil Brent (1925) - Theo Hartwig, Schriftsteller
- The Old Lady (1932) - Joe
- The Lucky Diamond (1933) - Il maggiordomo
- The Missing Treaty (1933) - John Brown - detective
- The Haller Case (1933) - Judge Haller
- L'impiegata di papà (1934) - Banchiere Monti
- Everybody's Woman (1934) - Leonardo Nanni
- Conquest of the Air (1936) - Francesco Lama di Brescia (uncredited)
- Lady of Paradise (1937) - Matteo Iran
- Scipione l'africano (1937) - Cato
- Tonight at Eleven (1938) - L'ambasciatore Leopoldo Norton
- Princess Tarakanova (1938) - L'ambasciatore russo
- La conquista dell'aria (1939) - Il Gesuita Franceesco Lama
- Orizzonte dipinto (1941) - Il burattinaio
- Il vagabondo (1941) - Fanfulla
- The Jester's Supper (1942) - Il Tornaquinci
- The Two Orphans (1942) - Il conte di Linières
- Fedora (1942) - Il principe Yariskine
- Rossini (1942) - Beethoven
- I due Foscari (1942) - Donato Almorò
- Fourth Page (1942) - Il pazzo
- The Son of the Red Corsair (1943) - Il marchese di Montelimar
- Measure for Measure (1943) - Lucio
- Peccatori (1945)
- Paese senza pace (1946) - Padron Toni
- L'ultimo sogno (1946)
- The Tyrant of Padua (1946) - Cesare, il pittore
- La taverna della libertà (1950)
- The Affairs of Messalina (1951) - Claudio / Claude
- Red Shirts (1952) - (uncredited)
- Too Bad She's Bad (1954) - (uncredited)
- Adriana Lecouvreur (1955) - Michonnet
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Lancia, Enrico (2003). "Benassi, Memo". Dizionario del cinema italiano. Gli artisti : Vol. 3, Gli attori dal 1930 ai giorni nostri : T. 1. A - L. Gremese Editore. ISBN 978-88-8440-213-4.
- ^ Mathew, Nicholas & Walton, Benjamin (2013). The Invention of Beethoven and Rossini: Historiography, Analysis, Criticism. Cambridge University Press. p.337.
External links
edit- Memo Benassi at IMDb