Sordi was born in Rome to schoolteacher and musician parents. He was the last of five children. Sordi was named in honour of an older sibling who died several days after his birth.
Educationedit
Sordi enrolled in Milan's dramatic arts academy but was kicked out because of his thick Roman accent. In the meantime, he studied to be a bass opera singer. His vocal distinctiveness would become his trademark.[3]
Careeredit
Cinema and televisionedit
Sordi[4] established himself as an icon from a career that spanned seven decades[5] of Italian cinema with his skills in comedy and light drama.
His movie career began in the late 1930s with bit parts and secondary characters in wartime movies. His early roles included Fellini'sThe White Sheik in 1952; Fellini's I vitelloni(1953), a movie about young slackers, in which he plays a weak immature loafer; and a starring role in The Bachelor as a single man trying to find love.[citation needed] Sordi frequently appeared in Italian historical comedies.[6]
In 1959, he appeared in Monicelli's Great War, considered by many critics and film historians to be one of the best Italian comedies. The Hollywood Foreign Press recognized his abilities when he was awarded a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actor in a Musical or Comedy for To Bed or Not to Bed (1963). Sordi acted alongside Britain's David Niven in the World War II comedy The Best of Enemies. In 1965, he was in another highly regarded comedy, I complessi (Complexes).[citation needed]
Sordi was also a prominent voice actor and dubber.[10] Prior to the war he began working as a dubber for the Italian versions of many Laurel and Hardy shorts and movies, voicing Oliver Hardy after winning an MGM contest for the Italian voice nearest to that of Oliver Hardy.[11] Sordi provided the voice of Hardy in more than forty Laurel and Hardy films from 1939 to 1951, paired with Mauro Zambuto, who voiced Stan Laurel.
Sordi was discreet about his private life. Despite never marrying and having no children, Sordi was in several relationships, including a nine-year romance with actress Andreina Pagnani.[13]
Sordi was raised Roman Catholic. Sordi was also a big supporter of AS Roma football team. This was something he expressed a fondness of in some of his films.
Awards and honorsedit
Sordi won seven David di Donatello, Italy's most prestigious film award, holding the record of David di Donatello as best actor, and four awards for his works from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists. He also received a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 1995, and The Golden Globe Award[14] for his performance as an Italian labourer stranded in Sweden in To Bed or Not to Bed. In 2000, the City of Rome made him honorary mayor for a day to celebrate his eightieth birthday.[citation needed]
In 2001, Sordi was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died of pneumonia and bronchitis at his house in Rome on 24 February 2003. A crowd in excess of a million gathered to pay their last respects at his funeral by the Basilica of St. John Lateran.[19]
^"Alberto Sordi's dubbing contributions". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
^informatici, Segretariato generale della Presidenza della Repubblica – Servizio sistemi. "Il sito ufficiale della Presidenza della Repubblica". Retrieved 22 November 2016.
^"Alberto Sordi". MYmovies. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
^Burton, Richard (23 October 2012). The Richard Burton Diaries. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300180107. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
^"Alberto Sordi comic icon of Italian cinema". Independent.co.uk. 26 February 2003. Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
^José Pagliardini (2002). "Alberto Sordi patriote. L'Histoire par le rire, histoire d'en rire ?". Italies (in French). 6 (6). DOAJ: 415–428. doi:10.4000/italies.1627. ISSN 1275-7519. OCLC 8081002838.
^"6th Moscow International Film Festival (1969)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
^"Italian actor Alberto Sordi". Retrieved 3 April 2018.
^"Berlinale: Juries". berlinale.de. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
^Cronologia fondamentale dell'epoca d'oro del doppiaggio italiano Dagli albori agli anni 1970 (in Italian)
^"Alberto Sordi, Italy's movie legend or Albertone Nazionale". 26 February 2013.
^"ALBERTO SORDI - 15/06/1920 - 24/02/2003" (in Italian). trovacinema.repubblica.it. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
^"ALBERTO SORDI E ANDREINA PAGNANI: CHI ERA LA COMPAGNA DELL'ATTORE" (in Italian). movieplayer.it. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
^"Alberto Sordi and Golden Globe Awards". Retrieved 3 April 2018.
^"Berlinale 1972: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
^"13th Moscow International Film Festival (1983)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
^(in Italian) Biography of Alberto Sordi. See "1951–1960" Archived 11 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine
^Alberto Sordi on Roma Virtuale website; accessed 14 July 2020.(in Italian)
^La Repubblica/spettacoli_e_cultura: Per Albertone 250mila in piazza San Giovanni
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alberto Sordi.