Nino Manfredi's Centenary: Celebrating an Italian Cinema Legend

Nino Manfredi, born in Castro dei Volsci in 1921, would have turned 100 on March 22, 2021. A giant of Italian cinema, he built popular, relatable characters across film, theater, and TV from 1949 to 2003. Manfredi was a key figure in the commedia all'italiana, working as an actor, screenwriter, director, and voice actor. After contracting tuberculosis in 1937, he spent time in a sanatorium where he learned banjo and discovered acting through a performance by Vittorio De Sica's theater company. Despite his family insisting he study law, he graduated in criminal law while simultaneously training in acting, graduating from the Accademia d'Arte Drammatica in 1947. He debuted in cinema in 1949 and on TV in 1956. Among his approximately 60 films, two are essential: Ettore Scola's 1974 masterpiece "C'eravamo tanto amati" (We All Loved Each Other So Much), where he played Antonio, a communist partisan, alongside Vittorio Gassman and Stefania Sandrelli; and the 1976 satirical collective film "Signore e signori, buonanotte" (Goodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen), in which he played Cardinal Felicetto de li Caprettari. Manfredi also directed two films: "Per grazia ricevuta" (1971), presented at Cannes, and "Nudo di donna" (1981), set during the Venice Carnival. The 2017 film "In arte Nino" (On Air Nino), directed by his son Luca Manfredi with music by Nicola Piovani and starring Elio Germano, offers a portrait of his life from 1943 to 1958.