Antonio Luigi Grimaldi, known as Antonello Grimaldi (born 14 August 1955) is an Italian actor,

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

, and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

Biography

Grimaldi was born on 14 August 1955 in

Sassari Sassari ( ; ; ; ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 120,497 inhabitants as of 2025, and a functional urban area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, it contains ...

on the island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. After receiving his

Laurea In Italy, the ''laurea'' is the main post-secondary academic degree. The name originally referred literally to the laurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremo ...

in law in 1981, he moved to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and attended the Gaumont School of Cinema, founded by producer Renzo Rossellini. He later taught

music history Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view. In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history of ...

at the Accademia di Belle Arti () in Sassari and film direction at the Scuola Golden in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

Career in film

Grimaldi's

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

came in 1985 with ''Juke box''. In 1987, he was

assistant director The role of an assistant director (AD) on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have ...

Giuseppe Piccioni Giuseppe Piccioni (born 2 July 1953) is an Italian film director and screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting ...

for the

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

Il Grande Blek ''Il Grande Blek'' is an Italian Western comic book, first published in Italy on October 3, 1954, by Editoriale Dardo. ''Blek'' was written and illustrated by Giovanni Sinchetto, Dario Guzzon and Pietro Sartoris, a trio also known as EsseGesse. ...

'', starring

Sergio Rubini Sergio Rubini (born 21 December 1959) is an Italian actor, film director and screenwriter. Life and career Rubini was born in Grumo Appula, Apulia, but soon moved to Rome to study acting. After some roles in theatre, he debuted in a feature f ...

and Francesca Neri. In 1997, Grimaldi appeared in ''

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

'', directed by

Gabriele Salvatores Gabriele Salvatores (born 30 July 1950) is an Italian Academy Award-winning film director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Naples, Salvatores debuted as a theatre director in 1972, founding in Milan the Teatro dell'Elfo, for which he directe ...

. He then starred in two films directed by

Gabriele Muccino Gabriele Muccino (; born 20 May 1967) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He has worked his way from making short films only aired on Italian television to become a well-known and successful American filmmaker. He is the elder brother o ...

: '' Ecco fatto'' (1998) and '' Come te nessuno mai'' (1999), where he played the role of the head of police. Also in 1999, he appeared in ''

Guardami ''Guardami'' is a 1999 Italian drama film written and directed by Davide Ferrario. The film premiered at the 56th Venice International Film Festival. It is loosely based on the life of Moana Pozzi. ''Guardami'' features some explicit sex sce ...

'', a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

of a

porn star A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts on video that is usually characterized as a pornographic film. Such videos tend to be made in a number of distinc ...

loosely based on the life of adult actress

Moana Pozzi Anna Moana Rosa Pozzi (; 27 April 1961 – 15 September 1994), also known mononymously as Moana, was an Italian pornographic actress, television personality and politician. Early life Pozzi was born in Genoa, Italy, the daughter of Alfredo Po ...

, starring

Elisabetta Cavallotti Elisabetta is an Italian feminine given name related to Elizabeth. * Elisabetta Artuso (born 1974), Italian former middle distance runner * Elisabetta Barbato (1921–2014), Italian operatic soprano * Elisabetta Casellati (born 1946), Italian p ...

, and directed by

Davide Ferrario Davide Ferrario (born 26 June 1956) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and author. Life and career Born in Casalmaggiore, Cremona, Ferrario graduated in Anglo-American literature, then he began to work in film distribution, and he c ...

. In 2000, Grimaldi directed ''Un delitto impossibile'' (), starring Lino Capolicchio,

Carlo Cecchi Carlo Cecchi (born 25 January 1939) is an Italian actor. Born in Florence, Cecchi studied under the Living Theatre and with the Workshop of Eduardo De Filippo. In 1968, he made his debut for cinema in '' La sua giornata di gloria''. In 1971, he ...

Ivano Marescotti Ivano Marescotti (4 February 1946 – 26 March 2023) was an Italian actor and theatre director. Life and career Born in Villanova di Bagnacavallo, province of Ravenna, Marescotti worked as a clerk in the urban sector of the Councillorship of ...

Ángela Molina Ángela Molina Tejedor (born 5 October 1955) is a Spanish actress. Aside from her performances in Spanish films, she has starred in multiple international productions, particularly in a number of Italian films and television series. Family Mol ...

, and Silvio Muccino. Starting in 2001, he transitioned from film to television, directing the

teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or a ...

''Gli insoliti ignoti'' (2003), the television series ''Le stagioni del cuore'' (2004), and the television

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

''La moglie cinese'' (2006), as well as 33

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption. Etymology The noun ''episode'' is ...

s of the

police drama The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agencies as the protagonists, as ...

''Distretto di Polizia'' from 2001 to 2007. Grimaldi returned to film in 2006, with his appearance in '' Il caimano'', directed by

Nanni Moretti Giovanni "Nanni" Moretti (; born 19 August 1953) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His films have won accolades, including a at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival for ''The Son's Room'', a Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize ...

. In 2008, he directed Moretti,

Valeria Golino Valeria Golino (born 22 October 1965) is an Italian actress and film director. She is best known to English-language audiences for her roles in '' Rain Man'', '' Big Top Pee-wee'', and '' Hot Shots!'', where she performed the "olive-in-the-belly ...

, and

Alessandro Gassman Alessandro Gassmann (; born 24 February 1965) is an Italian actor and film director. Early life Born in Rome, he is the son of Italian actor Vittorio Gassman and French actress Juliette Mayniel. He is of Italian, German, Jewish and French de ...

in '' Caos calmo'', and also

guest star The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

red on the

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

''Boris''. In 2009, Grimaldi directed the

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 national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

''Due mamme di troppo'' featuring Angela Finocchiaro and Barbara Matera. Grimaldi directed ''Il Commissario Zagaira'', a partly-humorous two-episode detective TV show subtitled "The Salento Murders", set in

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

and the

Salento Salento (; Salentino dialect, Salentino: ''Salentu''; Griko language, Salento Griko: ) is a Cultural area, cultural, List of historical states of Italy, historical, and geographic region at the southern end of the administrative region of Apuli ...

region of Italy, starring

Lino Banfi Lino Banfi (born Pasquale Zagaria; 9 July 1936) is an Italian actor and screenwriter. Since 1960 he has appeared in more than 100 films. Biography Banfi was born in the Apulian city of Andria, and at the age of three he moved to Canosa di P ...

as Commissario Pasquale Zagaria, and a cast that includes Ana Caterina Morariu as Nicoletta. The show was produced in 2010 by RTI and Alba Film, and distributed through Eurochannel''The Salento Murders''
Eurochannel, retrieved 22 January 2020

References

External links

* *

' at Eurochannel {{DEFAULTSORT:Grimaldi, Antonello 1955 births Living people Italian-language film directors Italian male film actors Italian film directors Italian screenwriters Italian male screenwriters Italian television directors People from Sassari