Totò - ©Theda Bara

The name I bring to you in this post is that of the renowned Italian comedian Totò, nicknamed “il principe della risata” (the prince of laughter), who was also a great screenwriter, playwright, poet, singer and lyricist.

Totò, having never acted in Hollywood, obviously does not have a star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, and has also never been nominated for an Oscar. However, the actor received awards for best actor from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists and the Silver Ribbon for Best Actor for his performances in Italian TV and cinema.

Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi De Curtis di Bisanzio, born on February 15, 1898, Rione Sanità, Naples, Italy, died on April 15, 1967, Rome, Italy, at the age of 69.

Three things that Totò always carried with him were his bowler hat, a cigarette case, and a mirror.

Totò was married only once, to Italian actress Diana Bandini Lucchesini Rogliani (1915–2006) from 1935 to 1939. The couple lived together for ten years, and when they married in 1935, the marriage lasted only four years, as Diana discovered her husband's multiple extramarital affairs. Antonio Griffo Focas and Diana Bandini had one daughter, the Roman actress and writer Liliana Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno de Curtis di Bisanzio Gagliardi (1933–2022). Totò had another son, the Neapolitan Massenzio De Curtis (1954–1954), who was born prematurely and died hours after birth. The child was the product of one of the actor’s extramarital relationships, the Italian writer and journalist Franca Faldini (1931–2016). The boy was buried in Naples, in the noble chapel of De Curtis. After his son's death, Totò fell into a severe depression, shutting himself away at home and stopping acting for more than a year.