Gerry Scotti (born Virginio Scotti on 7 August 1956) is an Italian television presenter, actor and former member of the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitio ...

Early years

Scotti was born Virginio Scotti on 7 August 1956 in Miradolo Terme,

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the ...

. After giving up studying law, Scotti began his broadcasting career as a disc jockey" at Radio Milano International. In 1982, he moved to '' Radio DeeJay'' and a year later became the host of ''DeeJay Television'', the first Italian programme for

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

s, broadcast by

Italia 1 Italia 1 (Italian pronunciation ) is an Italian free-to-air television channel on the Mediaset network, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It is oriented at both young and adult people. Italia 1 was launched on 3 January 1982 and, originally, was o ...

. Scotti also hosted other music programmes such as ''Festivalbar''.

Television career

Scotti was a member of the

Italian Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies ( it, Camera dei deputati) is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical func ...

of the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 189 ...

from 1987 to 1992. Since the 1990s, Scotti has been a television presenter, almost exclusively for

Canale 5 Canale 5 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a ...

. He is known as a quiz show host, having presented '' Chi vuol essere milionario?'', the Italian version of ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and l ...

'', '' Passaparola'', the Italian version of

The Alphabet Game The Alphabet Game is a comedy panel game show that aired on BBC1 from 5 August 1996 to 27 March 1997 and is hosted by Andrew O'Connor. The programme was created by O'Connor, Rebecca Thornhill, Mark Maxwell-Smith and produced by Objective Produ ...

and '' The Money Drop''. He also directed entertainment programmes such as ''La sai l'ultima?'', ''La Corrida'', ''Paperissima'', ''Buona Domenica'' (with Harold Davies) and ''The Winner Is''. He was the co-host of the satirical show ''

Striscia la Notizia ''Striscia la notizia'' () is an Italian satirical television program on the Mediaset-controlled Canale 5. Founded in 1988, it is meant to be a parody of the daily news, which airs right before the program, but ''Striscia'' also satirizes gover ...

'', and acted in several films and situation comedies. In 2008, he returned as a host on ''

R101 R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airships completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air M ...

'' (the former Radio Milano International), and became deputy-president of Monradio (the radio division of

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 1 ...

). In 2011, after

ended, he presented The Money Drop, until its end in 2013. He was the host of Avanti un Altro! along with

Paolo Bonolis Paolo Bonolis (; born 14 June 1961) is an Italian television host. He made his debut in 1981 on ''Tre, due, uno, contatto...'', a program for children that aired on Italian national broadcaster Rai. Biography In 1982, he moved to Italia 1 where ...

in 2014 and 2015. In 2015 he presented

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

and '' Caduta libera'', the Italian version of Who's Still Standing which achieved good ratings. In the summer of 2017, he presented

The Winner Is ''The Winner Is'' is an American vocal game show which aired on NBC. Hosted by Nick Lachey, the seven-episode series featured singers of all ages competing for a chance to win $1,000,000. The show premiered on June 10, 2013. The winner of the ser ...

. In December 2017 he started to present the Italian version of the American game show The Wall. In January 2018 he returned to present

Striscia la notizia ''Striscia la notizia'' () is an Italian satirical television program on the Mediaset-controlled Canale 5. Founded in 1988, it is meant to be a parody of the daily news, which airs right before the program, but ''Striscia'' also satirizes gover ...

Awards

Scotti won the Italian television Telegatto prize in 1984, 1985, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2007. In 2008, he won the platinum Telegatto, in the Excellence category. In 2011, he was mentioned in the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

as the TV host who hosted the most episodes of ''Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?''.

Personal life

On 27 October 2020, Scotti tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

and spent time in the hospital. He since recovered.

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

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Gerry Scotti
at

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Scotti, Gerry 1956 births Living people People from the Province of Pavia Italian male actors Italian television presenters Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Italian radio personalities