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.

Giulietta Masina - ©Theda Bara

The actress I highlight in this post is the Italian Giulietta Masina, who, in addition to being very successful wherever she acted, was a very cultured woman, graduated in Philosophy. Daughter of violinist and music teacher Gaetano Masina (1899-1979), she began her career at a young age, when as a teenager she fell in love with theater.  In 1942 she got her first paid job, at a radio station, where she narrated the adventures of characters written by the then-unknown Federico Fellini (1920-1993), whom she would marry a year later.

The series of radio programs brought her great success, and it didn't take long for her to be called to act in the cinema, a branch in which she was consecrated mainly alongside her husband, in acclaimed films such as “La strada” (1954) and “Le notti di Cabiria” (1957), both Oscar winners for Best Foreign Language Film, but Giulietta never won a statuette. However, she was not discouraged and continued to work alongside renowned artists such as Roberto Rossellini (1906-1977) and Alberto Lattuada (1914-2005).

In the mid-1960s he returned to present a very popular radio program called “Open Letters to Giulietta Masina”, and after that he was part of television series such as “Eleonora” (1973), written by Tullio Pinelli (1908-2009), a regular contributor to Fellini’s film scripts. Masina and Federico had a son named Pier Federico Fellini (Federichino), who was born in a forced premature birth and who, as a result, died at just over a month old.

The actress was born Giulia Anna Masina, on February 22, 1921, San Giorgio di Piano, Italy, died on: March 23, 1994, Rome, Italy, aged 73.

Giulia Anna Masina, as I have already mentioned, was married to filmmaker Federico Fellini from 1943 to 1993, when she became a widow in October, also passing away almost five months later, in March 1994.