Carlo Bonomi (12 March 1937 – 6 August 2022) was an Italian voice actor and clown who was best known for his voiceover work as the voice of Mr. Linea in the animated series ''
La Linea'' as well as Pingu and various other characters in series 1-4 of the
stop-motion children's television series of the same name.
Career
Bonomi voiced many characters for the Italian advertising show ''
Carosello''. The language of noises he had developed and used for the earlier
Osvaldo Cavandoli
Osvaldo Cavandoli (1 January 1920 – 3 March 2007), also known by his pen name Cava, was an Italian cartoonist. His most famous work is his series of short animated cartoons, '' La Linea'' ("The Line").
Early life, family and education
Cavando ...
's ''
La Linea'' from 1971 to 1986 was reinterpreted for the acclaimed TV series ''
Pingu
''Pingu'' is a stop-motion children's television series co-created by Otmar Gutmann and Erika Brueggemann. It was originally produced from 1990 to 2000 by Swiss company The Pygos Group (originally called Trickfilmstudio) for SF DRS in Switzerl ...
'' on
SF DRS
Schweizer Fernsehen (SF; "Swiss Television") is the German-language division of SRG SSR, in charge of production and distribution of television programmes in Switzerland for German-speaking Switzerland. It has its head office in Zürich. during its first four seasons produced between 1990 and 2000, where Bonomi voiced all the characters without a script.
His
grammelot Grammelot (or gromalot or galimatias) is an imitation of language used in satirical theatre, an ''ad hoc'' gibberish that uses prosody along with macaronic and onomatopoeic elements to convey emotional and other meaning, and used in association w ...
was originally intended to be a parody of the
Milanese dialect
Milanese (endonym in traditional orthography , ') is the central variety of the Western dialect of the Lombard language spoken in Milan, the rest of its metropolitan city, and the northernmost part of the province of Pavia. Milanese, due to t ...
, and it was inspired by three abstract languages traditionally used by clowns in France and Italy.
When in 2003 the show's rights were acquired by
HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and So ...
, Bonomi was replaced by London-based voice actors
David Sant and Marcello Magni.
In 1984 he provided the laughter voices for the cartoon series ''Stripy.'' In 1985 he recorded the railway announcements for the
central station of Milan which remained in use until 2008. Bonomi was also very active as a voice actor in Italian radio dramas, and was the Italian voice for several popular cartoon characters, including
Mickey Mouse and
Fred Flintstone
Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom ''The Flintstones'', which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintston ...
.
In 2008 he acted the voices for the yellow tribe in ''
Spore
In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, ...
'', which was also his final role before his retirement from acting later that year.
Death
Bonomi died on 6 August 2022 in his home town in
Milan, Italy
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, at the age of 85.
Filmography
Film
*''
La sexilinea'' (1972) – La Linea
*''
Mr. Rossi Looks for Happiness'' (1976) – Additional voices
*''
Mr. Rossi's Dreams'' (1977) – Additional voices
*''
Mr. Rossi's Vacation'' (1978) – Additional voices
Animation
*''
La Linea'' (1971–1986) – La Linea
*''
Calimero
''Calimero'' is an animated television series about a charming, but hapless anthropomorphized chicken; the only black one in a family of yellow chickens. He wears half of his egg shell still on his head. Calimero originally appeared on th ...
'' (1972–1975) – Paperazzi
* ''
The Red and the Blue'' (1976-2005) – Red / Blue
*''Stripy'' (1984) – Stripy / All characters
*''
Pingu
''Pingu'' is a stop-motion children's television series co-created by Otmar Gutmann and Erika Brueggemann. It was originally produced from 1990 to 2000 by Swiss company The Pygos Group (originally called Trickfilmstudio) for SF DRS in Switzerl ...
'' (1990–2000) – Pingu / All characters (voice)
*''
Pingu: A Very Special Wedding'' (1997) – Pingu / All characters
Video games
*''Pingu: A Barrel of Fun!'' (1997) – Pingu, Robby
*''Fun! Fun! Pingu'' (1999) – Pingu, Penguins
*''
Spore
In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, ...
'' (2008) – Additional voices
Live-action
*''
Eurovision Song Contest'' (TV series) (1965, 1990, 1992) – Swiss Commentator (voice)
*''Le mie prigioni'' (TV series) (1968) – Il segretario
*''Ogni Regno'' (1969) – Narrator (voice)
*''La freccia nera'' (TV series) (1969) – Un alabardiere
*''Durante l'estate'' (1971) – Voice dubbing (uncredited)
Other works
*
Milano Centrale railway station
Milano Centrale ( it, Stazione Milano Centrale) is the main railway station of the city of Milan, Italy, and is the largest railway station in Europe by volume. The station is a terminus and located at the northern end of central Milan. It was o ...
(1985–2008) – Announcer
References
External links
*
*
1937 births
2022 deaths
20th-century Italian male actors
21st-century Italian male actors
Italian male television actors
Italian male voice actors
Male actors from Milan
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