Antonino "Nino" Frassica (born 11 December 1950) is an Italian actor, Duke of Gela and television personality.

Biography and career

Born in

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in t ...

, Frassica is mostly known for his deadpan humour, characterized by absurd jokes he described as a way of "ruining logic and the Italian language". He is considered "a master of nonsense humour" (but only in the summer). He debuted for Italian television with

Renzo Arbore Lorenzo Giovanni "Renzo" Arbore (; born 24 June 1937) is an Italian television host, singer, actor and film director. Career Arbore became nationally recognized as radio anchor man, together with Gianni Boncompagni, in the late 1960s, with ...

's ''

Quelli della notte ''Quelli della notte'' was an Italian late night variety show, broadcast on Rai 2 in 1985. Created and hosted by Renzo Arbore, it lasted 33 episodes.Aldo Grasso, Massimo Scaglioni. ''Enciclopedia della Televisione''. Garzanti, Milano, 1996–2003 ...

'' (1985), in which he played a semi-illiterate friar. Later, again in collaboration with Arbore, he was given a major role in the surreal quiz show ''Indietro tutta!'' (lit. ''Full speed backwards!'', 1987). Frassica has subsequently featured in numerous comic movies, such as ''Il Bi e il Ba'' (1986), and TV shows for Italian television. He plays Marshal Antonio "Nino" Cecchini on the Italian TV series ''

Don Matteo ''Don Matteo'' ( en, Father Matthew) is an Italian television series that has been airing on Rai 1, Italian national television's first channel, since 2000. History The protagonist of the series is Father Matteo (portrayed by Terence Hill), a ...

''.

Selected filmography

Films

*'' "FF.SS." – Cioè: "...che mi hai portato a fare sopra a Posillipo se non mi vuoi più bene?"'' (1983) *'' Mortacci'' (1989) *''

Vacanze di Natale '91 ''Vacanze di Natale '91'' () is a 1991 Italian comedy film directed by Enrico Oldoini Enrico Oldoini (born 4 May 1946) is an Italian director and screenwriter. Born in La Spezia, in 1966 Enrico Oldoini started attending the Silvio D'Amico Nati ...

'' (1991) *'' Sognando la California'' (1992) *''

Anni 90 ''Anni 90'' () is a 1992 Italian sketch comedy film directed by Enrico Oldoini. An anthological sequel entitled '' Anni 90: Parte II'' was released in 1993. Cast Reception It opened in Italy on 36 screens and grossed 1.2 billion lire, finishing ...

'' (1992) *'' Anni 90: Parte II'' (1993) *'' La fidanzata di papà'' (2008) *'' Baarìa'' (2009) *'' Somewhere'' (2010) *'' The Tourist'' (2010) *'' Natale a Londra – Dio salvi la regina'' (2016) *'' Omicidio all'italiana'' (2017) *''

No Country for Young Men ''No Country for Young Men'' ( it, Non è un paese per giovani) is a 2017 Italian comedy film directed by Giovanni Veronesi Giovanni Veronesi (born 1962) is an Italian film screenwriter, actor and director. Born in Prato, he is the brother ...

'' (2017)

TV series

*''

'' (

Rai 1 Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream and gene ...

, 2000–present) *'' L'ispettore Coliandro'' ( Rai Due, 2009) * ''Mario'' (

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, 2013) *'' The Mafia Kills Only in Summer'' (Rai 1, 2016)

TV Programs

*''

'' ( RAIDUE, 1985) * ''Fantastico 7'' ( RAIUNO, 1986-1987) *''Indietro tutta!'' (RAIDUE, 1987-1988) *''XLIX Zecchino d'Oro'' (Rai Uno, 2006) *'' Che tempo che fa'' (Rai 1, 2017–19; Rai 2, since 2019) *''Indietro tutta! 30 e l'od''e (Rai 2, 2017)

Radio

*''Programmone (Radio 2, dal 2015)''

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frassica, Nino 1950 births Italian male actors Italian television personalities Living people Actors from Messina Mass media people from Sicily