Giuseppe Vittorio Raimondo Baudo (born 7 June 1936), known as Pippo Baudo, is one of the most famous Italian

television presenters A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garner ...

, with a career spanning six decades. He is often nicknamed "Superpippo" (referencing the Italian name of

Super Goof Goofy is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled f ...

). Baudo has also been the artistic director and president of the

Teatro Stabile di Catania The Teatro Stabile di Catania (Permanent theatre of Catania) is a theatrical institution based in Catania, Sicily, Italy which was formed in 1958. It has two theatres, the Teatro Giovanni Verga, the Teatro Angelo Musco. Annually, the program offer ...

Career

Baudo was born in Militello in Val di Catania. While studying law at the

University of Catania The University of Catania ( it, Università degli Studi di Catania) is a university located in Catania, Sicily. Founded in 1434, it is the oldest university in Sicily, the 13th oldest in Italy, and the 29th oldest university in the world. With a ...

, he became involved in entertainment as an actor and host. He also learned to play the piano. He graduated with a degree in law, despite his interest in entertainment. At the end of the 1950s, he became a singer and pianist for Orchestra Moonlight. In 1959, for the first time, Pippo appeared on Italian TV during a "Caravella dei Successi" episode, broadcast from

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

. He gained success hosting several RAI programmes, as well as serving as the artistic director. Pippo signed to

Mediaset Mediaset Italia S.p.A., also known as Mediaset, is an Italian-based mass media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE - MediaForEurope. Founded in 1987 by former ...

but has never been able to reclaim his past success. He experienced a resurgence in his career when he hosted "Novecento" on RAI, which led to re-hosting the popular Sunday-afternoon show named "Domenica In" and the "

Festival della canzone italiana The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual ...

". In the 1970s, he helped establish and work for the

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also b ...

-based private channel " Antenna Sicilia". In 1987, he hosted "Festival" on Mediaset after a controversy with RAI president, Enrico Manca. However, years later he worked again for RAI; his show "Serata d'Onore" having been broadcast on Rai Due. In the opening night of the

Sanremo Music Festival 1995 The Sanremo Music Festival 1995 was the 45th annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo, province of Imperia, in the late February 1995 and broadcast by Rai 1. The show was presented by Pippo Baudo, who also served as t ...

, shortly after the beginning of the show a man, Pino Pagano, sat on the edge of the gallery of the theater showing his intention to commit suicide by jumping below: he was eventually stopped by Baudo himself amid the applause of the audience. In 1997, he signed again to Mediaset, but his shows "La canzone del secolo" and "Tiramisù" had very little success. In 1999, Baudo was asked by Rai Tre to host a new

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

program, "Giorno dopo Giorno", it is now called "Novecento". In 2002, he hosted the

Festival di Sanremo The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian culture, Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longes ...

, after the 2001 edition had been a fiasco. He chose co-hosts Manuela Arcuri and Vittoria Belvedere. He left RAI in 2004, but he came back in 2005, with the programme "Sabato Italiano", on Rai Uno. On 2 October 2005 he hosted for the eighth time the Sunday-afternoon program Domenica in (1979–1985, 1991–1992, 2005–2010). In 2008, he hosted, for his thirteenth time, the

, exceeding Mike Bongiorno, who hosted eleven times.

Personal life

In 2004, Baudo and his wife, Italian

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

Katia Ricciarelli, divorced, who had been married since 1986. He has two children, Alessandro, born in 1962, who lives in Australia, and Tiziana, born in 1970 from his first wife.

Honour

* : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (21 july 2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baudo, Pippo 1936 births Living people People from Militello in Val di Catania Italian television presenters Mass media people from Sicily Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic