Verdone, Carlo

(1950-)

   Actor and director. Son of film historian and critic Mario Verdone, Carlo studied directing at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. While serving his apprenticeship as assistant director on several minor films, he also worked extensively in cabaret theater and on radio. In 1977 he wrote, directed, and acted in Tali e quali (Just So!), a stage show in which he played a dozen different comic characters and which displayed his remarkable talent for accurate impersonation. He was soon parading his characters on television in the popular long-running comedy series Non stop.

   After a minor role in Bernardo Bertolucci's La luna (Luna, 1979), Verdone met Sergio Leone, who agreed to produce his first feature, Un sacco bello (Fun Is Beautiful, 1980). The film again amply displayed Verdone's talent for playing multiple character types and earned him a special David di Donatello and a Nastro d'argento. There followed Bianco, Rosso e Verdone (White, Red and Green, 1981) and Borotalco (Talcum Powder, 1982), which won five Davids, including Best Film and Best Actor for Verdone himself. His popularity and critical acclaim continued unabated in the following years as the character types he created in films such as Acqua e sapone (Soap and Water, 1983), Troppo forte (Great! 1985), Io e mia sorella (Me and My Sister, 1987), Compagni di scuola (School Friends, 1988), Maledetto il giorno che t'ho incontrato (Damned the Day I Met You, 1992), Al lupo, al lupo (Wolf! Wolf! 1992), and Perdiamoci di vista (Let's Not Keep in Touch, 1994) searingly satirized many aspects of young Italian males in perpetual personal crisis. As well as directing himself in his own films, Verdone appeared as Alberto Sordi's In viaggio con papa (Journey with Papa, 1982), in which he played Sordi's son, and more recently in one of the stories of Giovanni Veronesi's Manuale d'amore (Manual of Love, 2005), for which he won another David di Donatello for Best Supporting Actor. His most recent film, the bittersweet generational comedy Il mio miglior nemico (My Best Enemy, 2006), has been critically acclaimed and nominated for five Davids.