Roberto Benigni

Warning: Page using Template:Infobox person with 2 1980s

unknown parameter Inuences (this message is shown
only in preview).
In 1980 he met Cesenate actress Nicoletta Braschi, who
was to become his wife and who has starred in most of
Roberto Remigio Benigni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce the lms he has directed.
OMRI[1] (Italian pronunciation: [robrto benii];[2] In June 1983 he appeared during a public political
born 27 October 1952) is an Italian actor, comedian, demonstration by the Italian Communist Party, with
screenwriter and director. He co-wrote, directed and which he was a sympathiser, and on this occasion he lifted
acted in the 1997 lm, Life Is Beautiful, which garnered and cradled the partys national leader Enrico Berlinguer.
him the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Academy It was an unprecedented act, given that until that moment
Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He also por- Italian politicians were proverbially serious and formal.
trayed Inspector Clouseau's son in Son of the Pink Pan- Benigni was censored again in the 1980s for calling Pope
ther (1993) and has collaborated with lmmaker Jim Jar- John Paul II something impolite during an important live
musch in three of his lms: Down by Law (1986), Night TV show (Wojtylaccio, meaning Bad Wojtyla in Italon Earth (1991) and Coee and Cigarettes (2003).
ian, but with a friendly meaning in Tuscan dialect).
Benignis rst lm as director was Tu mi turbi (You Upset
Me) in 1983. This lm was also his rst collaboration
with Braschi.
In 1984, he played in Non ci resta che piangere (Nothing
Left to Do but Cry) with comic actor Massimo Troisi.
1 Early years
The story was a fable in which the protagonists are suddenly thrown back in time to the 15th century, just a little
Benigni was born in Manciano La Misericordia (a before 1492. They start looking for Christopher Columfrazione of Castiglion Fiorentino), the son of Isolina Pa- bus in order to stop him from discovering the Americas
pini, a fabric maker, and Luigi Benigni, a bricklayer, car- (for very personal reasons), but are not able to reach him.
penter, and farmer.[3] He was raised Catholic and served
as an altar boy;[4][5] he still considers himself a believer.[6]
His rst experiences as a theatre actor took place in 1971, 2.1 Benigni in the United States and his
collaboration with Cerami
in Prato. During that autumn he moved to Rome where
he took part in some experimental theatre shows, some
of which he also directed. In 1975, Benigni had his rst Beginning in 1986, Benigni starred in three lms by
theatrical success with Cioni Mario di Gaspare fu Giulia, American director Jim Jarmusch. In Down By Law
written by Giuseppe Bertolucci.
(1986) (which in Italy had its title spelled Daunbail",
in Italian phonetics) he played Bob, an innocent foreigner
Benigni became famous in Italy in the 1970s for a television series called Onda Libera, on RAI2, produced by living in the United States, convicted of manslaughter,
Renzo Arbore, in which he interpreted the satirical piece whose irrepressible good humour and optimism help him
The Hymn of the Body Purged (L'inno del corpo sciolto, a to escape and nd love. (The lm also starred Braschi
scatological song about the joys of defecation).[7] A great as his beloved.) In Night on Earth, (1991) he played a
scandal for the time, the series was suspended due to cabbie in Rome, who causes his passenger, a priest, great
censorship. His rst lm was 1977s Berlinguer, I Love discomfort and a heart attack by confessing his bizarre
sexual experiences. Later, he also starred in the rst
You (Berlinguer ti voglio bene), also by Bertolucci.
of Jarmuschs series of short lms, Coee and Cigarettes
His popularity increased with L'altra domenica (1976/9), (2003).
another TV show of Arbores in which Benigni portrayed
of the Jury at the 40th Berlin
a lazy lm critic who never watches the lms hes asked In 1990, he was a member [8]
International
Film
Festival.
to review. Bernardo Bertolucci then cast him in a small
speechless role as a window upholsterer in the lm La In 1993, he starred in Son of the Pink Panther, directed
Luna which had limited American distribution due to its by veteran Blake Edwards. Benigni played Peter Sellers'
subject matter.
Inspector Clouseaus illegitimate son who is assigned to
1

BEYOND LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

save the Princess of Lugash. The lm bombed in the US, lm was attacked by critics who accused it of presentbut was a hit in his homeland.
ing the Holocaust without much suering, and some who
Benigni had a rare serious role in Federico Fellini's last considered that laughing at everything was not approlm, La voce della luna (The Voice of the Moon) priate. More favourable critics praised Benignis artistic
(1989). In earlier years Benigni had started a long-lasting daring and skill to create a sensitive comedy involving
collaboration with screenwriter Vincenzo Cerami, for a the tragedy, a challenge that Charlie Chaplin confessed
series of lms which scored great success in Italy: Il pic- he would not have done with The Great Dictator had he
colo diavolo (The Little Devil) with Walter Matthau, been aware of the horrors of the Holocaust.
Johnny Stecchino (Johnny Toothpick), and Il mostro In 1998, the lm was nominated for seven Academy
(The Monster).
Awards. At the 1999 ceremony, the lm was awarded the
Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film (which Benigni
accepted as the lms director), Best Original Dramatic
Score (the score by Nicola Piovani), and Benigni received
3 Life Is Beautiful
the award for Best Actor (the rst for a male performer
in a non-English-speaking role, and only the third overall
acting Oscar for non-English-speaking roles).
Famously, giddy with delight after Life Is Beautiful was
announced as the Best Foreign Language Film, Benigni
climbed over and then stood on the backs of the seats in
front of him and applauded the audience before proceeding to the stage. After winning his Best Actor Oscar later
in the evening, he said in his acceptance speech, This
is a terrible mistake because I used up all my English!"
To close his speech, Benigni quoted the closing lines of
Dantes Divine Comedy, referencing the love that moves
the sun and all the stars. At the following years ceremony, when he read the nominees for Best Actress (won
by Hilary Swank for Boys Don't Cry), host Billy Crystal
playfully appeared behind him with a large net to restrain
Benigni if he got excessive with his antics again. On a
1999 episode of Saturday Night Live, host Ray Romano
played him in a sketch parodying his giddy behavior at
the ceremony.

4 Beyond Life Is Beautiful

Benigni and wife Nicoletta Braschi at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.

Benigni is perhaps best known outside Italy for his 1997

tragicomedy Life Is Beautiful (La vita bella), lmed in
Arezzo, also written by Cerami. The lm is about an Italian Jewish man who tries to protect his sons innocence
during his internment at a Nazi concentration camp, by
telling him that the Holocaust is an elaborate game and
he must adhere very carefully to the rules to win. Benignis father had spent three years in a concentration
camp in Bergen-Belsen,[9] and La vita bella is based
in part on his fathers experiences. Benigni was also inspired by the story of Holocaust survivor Rubino Romeo
Salmon.[10] Although the story and presentation of the
lm had been discussed during production with dierent Jewish groups to limit the oense it might cause, the

Benigni played one of the main characters in Asterix and

Obelix vs Caesar as Detritus, a corrupt Roman provincial
governor who wants to kill Julius Caesar, thereby seizing
control of the Roman Republic.
As a director, his 2002 lm Pinocchio, one of the costliest lms in Italian cinema, performed well in Italy, but
it bombed in North America, with a 0% critics score at
Rotten Tomatoes. He was also named as the Worst Actor
for his role as Pinocchio, in the 23rd Golden Raspberry
Awards. The original Italian version was not so poorly
greeted and received six nominations at the David di Donatello Awards, winning two, as well as winning one of
the two awards it was nominated for at the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.[11]
That same year, he gave a typically energetic and revealing interview to Canadian lmmaker Damian Pettigrew
for Fellini: I'm a Born Liar (2002), a cinematic portrait
of the maestro that was nominated for Best Documentary
at the European Film Awards, Europes equivalent of the

3
Oscars. The lm went on to win the prestigious Rockie
Award for Best Arts Documentary at the Ban World
Television Festival (2002) and the Coup de Coeur at the
International Sunnyside of the Doc Marseille (2002).

Benigni began North American presentations of TuttoDante with an announcement that he learned English to
bring the gift of Dantes work to English speakers. The
English performance incorporates dialectic discussion of
In 2003, Benigni was honored by the National Italian language and verse and is a celebration of modernity and
American Foundation (NIAF), receiving the Founda- the concept of human consciousness as created by lantions NIAF Special Achievement Award in Entertain- guage.
ment.
Benigni brought TuttoDante to the United States,
His lm La tigre e la neve (The Tiger and the Snow, 2005) Canada and Argentina in the TuttoDante Tour between
is a love story set during the initial stage of the Iraq War. 2008-2009 with performances in San Francisco, Boston
and Chicago. Benigni was feted in San Francisco at a
On 15 October 2005, he performed an impromptu strip special reception held by the National Italian American
tease on Italys most watched evening news program, Foundation (NIAF) in his honor on May 24, 2009. Folremoving his shirt and draping it over the newscasters lowing his U.S. premiere Benigni performed his last preshoulders. Prior to removing his shirt, Benigni had al- sentation on 16 June 2009, in Buenos Aires, Argentina
ready hijacked the opening credits of the news program, where he was awarded Honorary Citizenship of the City of
jumping behind the newscaster and announcing: Berlus- Buenos Aires in a ceremony held at the Legislative Palace
coni has resigned!" (Benigni is an outspoken critic of me- in homage to the notable Italian diaspora and culture in
dia tycoon and then former Prime Minister Silvio Berlus- Argentina.[12]
coni.) The previous day, he had led a crowd of thousands
in Rome on Friday in protest at the center-right governments decision to cut state arts funding by 35 percent.

6 Other media

On 2 February 2007, he was awarded the degree of

Doctor Honoris Causa by the Katholieke Universiteit
Roberto Benigni is also a singer-songwriter. Among
Leuven, Belgium. On 22 April 2008, the degree of
his recorded performances are versions of Paolo Conte's
Doctor Honoris Causa was conferred on him by the
songs.
University of Malta, celebrated by a Settimana Dantesca
including Benignis rst stage appearance at a university
and the premiere of his performing with Dante scholar
7 Honors
Robert Hollander.
Benigni has reportedly received oers to bring his Dante
In 1999, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, Calishow to Broadway, all of which he has turned down.
fornia, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.[13]
His latest lm is To Rome with Love with Woody Allen in
2012.

7.1 Honorary degrees

TuttoDante

Benigni is an improvisatory poet (poesia estemporanea

is a form of art popularly followed and practiced in
Tuscany), appreciated for his explanation and recitations
of Dante's Divina Commedia by memory.
During 2006 and 2007, Benigni had a lot of success touring Italy with his 90-minute one man show TuttoDante
(Everything About Dante"). Combining current events
and memories of his past narrated with an ironic tone, Benigni then begins a journey of poetry and passion through
the world of the Divine Comedy.
TuttoDante has been performed in numerous Italian piazzas, arenas, and stadiums for a total of 130 shows, with
an estimated audience of about one million spectators.
Over 10 million more spectators watched the TV show, Il
V canto dellInferno (The 5th Song of Hell), broadcast
by Rai Uno on 29 November 2007, with re-runs on Rai
International.

In addition to numerous lm awards, Benigni has garnered honorary degrees from universities worldwide:
1999 Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy from the
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba,
Israel.
2002 Honorary Doctorate in Letters from the
University of Bologna, Italy.
2003 Honorary Degree in Psychology from the
Vita-Salute San Raaele University, Milan, Italy.
2007 Honorary Doctorate in Letters from the
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
2007 Honorary Degree in Modern Philology from
the University of Florence, Italy.
2008 Honorary Doctorate in Letters from the
University of Malta.

12

REFERENCES

9 Filmography (director)
10 Filmography
11 Books
E l'alluce fu... monologhi e gags (1996)

12 References
[1] Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana at the Wayback Machine (archived December 26, 2008). quirinale.it
[2] Listen. Pronounceitright.com . Retrieved on 2012-03-10.
[3] Roberto Benigni Biography (1952). Filmreference.com.
Retrieved on 2012-03-10.
[4] When Tragedy, Comedy Meet: Italian actor-director
Roberto Benigni. The Jewish Week (1998-10-23)
[5] Is There Humor in the Holocaust? Roberto Benignis bittersweet answer.Jewish Exponent (1998-11-05)
Benigni on stage (1990)

2008 Honorary Degree in Communication Arts

from the Touro University Rome, Zagarolo, Italy.
2012 Honorary Degree in Modern Philology from
the University of Calabria, Italy.
2012 Honorary Doctorate in Letters from the
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
2015 Honorary Doctorate in Laws from the
University of Toronto, Canada.[14]

[6] "www.centrodipoesia.it Davide Rondoni intervista

Roberto Benigni (in Italian). Centro di Poesia Contemporanea dellUniversit di Bologna. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
[7] Celli, Carlo (2001). The Divine Comic: The Cinema of
Roberto Benigni. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. p. 9.
ISBN 978-0-8108-4000-3.
[8] Berlinale: 1990 Juries. berlinale.de. Retrieved 201103-14.
[9] Claudia Smith Brinson. Live your life with exuberance, and happiness may come (editorial), The State
(Columbia, South Carolina), March 23, 1999, page A10.
[10] Nick Squires, "Life Is Beautiful Nazi death camp survivor
dies aged 91, The Daily Telegraph, 11 July 2011, URL
accessed 11 September 2016.

Inuence

[11] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0255477/awards

The Europe List, the largest survey on European culture,

[12] Roberto Benigni stato nominato Husped de Honor de
established that the top three lms in European culture
la Ciudad de Buenos Aires.". Retrieved 2009-06-16.
are
[13] Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated
[15]

1. Benignis Life is Beautiful

2. Donnersmarcks The Lives of Others[15]

3. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amlie[15]

[14] http://news.utoronto.ca/
convocation-2015-roberto-benigni-and-nicoletta-braschi-receive-honorary-d
[15] The self-perception of Europeans in comparison with the
perception of other countries. Goethe Institute.

13

External links

Roberto Benignis English fansite site.

Roberto Benigni A Biography
The Ocial Site of the Tour TuttoDante
Roberto Benigni at the Internet Movie Database

14

14
14.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Roberto Benigni Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Benigni?oldid=740174681 Contributors: Damian Yerrick, WojPob, Koyaanis Qatsi, Andre Engels, Eclecticology, Gianfranco, Olivier, Kchishol1970, Tillwe, Ellywa, Iammaxus, Scanos, RodC, Tempshill, Ed
g2s, Pakaran, Bwmodular, Gentgeen, Postdlf, Mervyn, Plandu, Rock69~enwiki, Robert Happelberg, Snobot, Rossrs, Everyking, Dratman, Mark T, Beardo, Woggly, Burgundavia, Sam Hocevar, Asbestos, Joyous!, Klemen Kocjancic, D6, Monkeyman, Discospinster, Paulo
Oliveira, Roybb95~enwiki, Bender235, Zaslav, Juppiter, Remember, Femto, TMC1982, Bill Thayer, Bobo192, Nk, Opspin, Pschemp,
Polylerus, Alfanje~enwiki, Ricky81682, Gaurav1146, Cburnett, Evil Monkey, Simone, Tony Sidaway, Ercole, Ghirlandajo, The JPS, Candice, Dowew, Andromeda321, Zzyzx11, Graham87, Jack Cox, Bubuka, Koavf, Hiberniantears, Feydey, The wub, LordP~enwiki, Who,
Thefourdotelipsis, Ahunt, BMF81, Hahnchen, YurikBot, RobotE, Tomfox, RussBot, FrenchIsAwesome, Zimbricchio, MarcK, Badagnani, Astorknlam, Tony1, Digitylgoddess, Teiladnam, Jogers, Garion96, F. Cosoleto, SDS, Vulturell, Attilios, Sintonak.X, SmackBot,
KAtremer, Prodego, DMorpheus, D C McJonathan, Ribbet32, Jyoshimi, MalafayaBot, Roscelese, Colonies Chris, Tsca.bot, Reyes300, Pevarnj, Crboyer, Johncmullen1960, RussellSenior, Jagarin, Wizardman, Tahna Los, SashatoBot, Jzummak, Carnby, Kransky, 120Degrees,
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