Vittorio Gassman: 20 years since his death, a tribute to the Italian actor

Vittorio Gassman, the quintessential Italian stage actor, died on June 29, 2000. Born in Genoa on September 1, 1922, to a German engineer father and a Tuscan homemaker mother, he was raised in Rome. After founding his own theater company, he joined Luchino Visconti's company alongside Paolo Stoppa. Initially considered mediocre in film, his career was transformed by Mario Monicelli, who cast him as the boastful romantic gang leader in the 1958 comedy 'I soliti ignoti' (Big Deal on Madonna Street) opposite Totò. Gassman went on to star in classics such as 'Il sorpasso' (1962) with Jean-Louis Trintignant, 'I mostri' (1963) with Ugo Tognazzi, and 'C'eravamo tanto amati' (1974) directed by Ettore Scola. He also voiced Mufasa in the Italian dub of Disney's 'The Lion King' (1994). Gassman was married three times: to Nora Ricci, Shelley Winters, and Diletta D'Andrea, who stayed with him from 1970 until his death. He had a son, actor Alessandro Gassmann, with actress Juliette Mayniel. Known for his melancholic temperament, he described acting as 'a kind of schizophrenia.' He performed internationally in Paris, Buenos Aires, and New York, and worked in Hollywood. On the 20th anniversary of his death, Sky Cinema is airing some of his most famous films, including 'Questi fantasmi' directed by Renato Castellani with Sophia Loren.