Troisi, Massimo

(1953-1994)

   Actor, screenwriter, director. One of the most genial and popular directors of the so-called New Italian Cinema, Troisi came to films after many years of cabaret and amateur theater. He began his brief career in the late 1960s performing stand-up comedy and cabaret in Naples with the group La smorfia (The Grimace), eventually gaining a national notoriety via appearances on television programs such as Nonstop (1976) and Luna Park (1979). Deciding to branch out on his own, in 1981 he wrote, directed, and acted in his first feature film, Ricomincio da tre (I'm Starting from Three, 1981), which earned him the immediate recognition of two David di Donatello awards, including Best Film, and three Nastri d'argento. He subsequently wrote and directed himself in Scusate il ritardo (Sorry I'm Late, 1982) before pairing up with Roberto Benigni to codirect and act in the hilarious road movie through Italian history, Non ci resta che piangere (Nothing Left to Do but Cry, 1985). After acting in Cinzia Th. Torrini's Hotel Colonial (1987), he directed himself again in Le vie del signore sono finite (The Ways of the Lord Have Ended, 1987) before appearing in Ettore Scola's Splendor (1988); Che ora e (What Time Is It? 1989), for which he shared the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Festival with Marcello Mastroianni; and Il viaggio di Capitan Fracassa (The Voyage of Captain Fracassa, 1990). He directed himself again in Pensavo fosse amore, invece era un calesse (I Thought It Was Love, 1991) before making his last appearance, when already quite ill from a congenital heart ailment, in Michael Radford's Il Postino (The Postman, 1994), for which he received a posthumous Oscar nomination. His tragic early death was widely mourned by many who thought he was just reaching his artistic maturity.