Daniele Formica (10 June 1949 – 1 February 2011) was an Irish-born Italian actor, voice actor, theatre director, playwright and television personality. Formica was best known for portraying comical characters in various Italian comedy films in the 1980s as well as his roles in the theatre. He also appeared in the 1980 variety comedy television show '' A tutto gag''.

Biography

Born in

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...

, in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the son of Wilson Formica, an Irish violinist of Italian origin and Eugenia Ravasio, an Italian maid, Formica studied at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

, then made his stage debut in the early seventies in ''Rabelais'' by

Jean-Louis Barrault Jean-Louis Bernard Barrault (; 8 September 1910 – 22 January 1994) was a French actor, director and mime artist who worked on both screen and stage. Biography Barrault was born in Le Vésinet in France in 1910. His father was 'a Burgundi ...

. In 1973, Formica moved to Italy where he joined the stage company of the Teatro Stabile dell'Aquila with whom he acted in ''Maschere'' by

Carlo Goldoni Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni (, also , ; 25 February 1707 – 6 February 1793) was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays ...

; in those years he made his first appearances in films and TV dramas. He obtained his major successes in the 1980s, taking part to a number of important TV shows, then, from the 1990s, he focused on theatre. As a voice actor, Formica made several voice acting appearances in at least three

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

films. He typically dubbed the voices of villainous or minor characters. For example, he voiced

Randall Boggs This is a list of characters from the Disney/Pixar media franchise ''Monsters, Inc.'', including the 2001 film ''Monsters, Inc.'', the 2013 film ''Monsters University'', and the 2021 Disney+ series ''Monsters at Work''. Appearing in both films ...

in the Italian dubbed version of ''

Monsters, Inc. ''Monsters, Inc.'' (also known as ''Monsters, Incorporated'') is a 2001 American animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Featuring the voices of John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, James Cobu ...

'' as well as

Gilbert Huph ''The Incredibles'', an American media franchise, tells the story of superheroes, also known as "Supers," co-existing with society. Set in a retro-futuristic version of the 1960s, the film series revolves around the Supers' struggles to live s ...

in the Italian dubbed version of ''

The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American animated superhero film written and directed by Brad Bird. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer ...

''.

Death

On 1 February 2011 Formica died in

Bassano del Grappa Bassano del Grappa ( or ''Bassan'', ) is a city and ''comune'', in the Province of Vicenza, Vicenza province, in the region of Veneto, in northern Italy. It bounds the communes of Cassola, Marostica, Solagna, Pove del Grappa, Romano d'Ezzelino, Va ...

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

at age 61 of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

Filmography

Cinema

*''Cerca di capirmi'' (1970) *''Bruciati da cocente passione'' (1976) *'' Sex Diary'' (1976) *''L'amore è un salto di qualità'' (1977) *'' A Dangerous Toy'' (1979) *'' Prickly Pears'' (1980) *'' I'm Getting a Yacht'' (1980) *'' I carabbimatti'' (1981) *'' Camera d'albergo'' (1981) *'' Don't Play with Tigers'' (1982) *''Rosso veneziano'' (1989) *''Stelle di cartone'' (1993) *''Uno a me, uno a te e uno a Raffaele'' (1994) *''Carogne - Ciro and me'' (1995) *''Intolerance'' (1996) *''Ladri si nasce'' (1997) - Film TV *'' Dio c'è'' (1998) *''Il piazzista'' (2007) *''Pa-ra-da'' (2008) *''Ti stramo - Ho voglia di un'ultima notte da manuale prima di tre baci sopra il cielo'' (2008) *''L'ultima estate'' (2009) *''Tutta colpa della musica'' (2011)

Dubbing roles

Animation

in ''

'' *

in ''

'' *Dusty Rust-eze in ''

Cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

'' *Wesley in ''

Home on the Range "Home on the Range" ( Roud No. 3599) is an American folk song, sometimes called the "unofficial anthem" of the American West. Dr. Brewster M. Higley (also spelled Highley) of Smith County, Kansas, wrote the lyrics as the poem "My Western Hom ...

'' *Mr. Willerstein in ''

Meet the Robinsons ''Meet the Robinsons'' is a 2007 American animated science-fiction comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the 1990 children's book ''A Day with Wilbur Robinson'' by William Jo ...

'' *Lofty Thaddeus Worthington in '' Valiant'' *Mr. Gasket in ''

Robots" \n\n\n\n\n\n\nrobots.txt is the filename used for implementing the Robots Exclusion Protocol, a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the website they are allowed to visit.\n\nThe sta ...

'' *JP in ''

Pets A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, int ...

Live action

*Inspector Gadget in ''

Inspector Gadget 2 ''Inspector Gadget 2'' (sometimes called ''Inspector 2 Gadget'' and ''IG2'') is a 2003 American superhero comedy film released direct-to-video on VHS and DVD on March 11, 2003 as a standalone sequel to the 1999 film '' Inspector Gadget''. It wa ...

'' *Sheik Abdul ben Falafel in ''

The Cannonball Run ''The Cannonball Run'' is a 1981 action-comedy film directed by Hal Needham, produced by Hong Kong firm Golden Harvest, and distributed by 20th Century-Fox. Filmed in Panavision, it features an all-star ensemble cast, including Burt Reynolds ...

'' *Sheik Abdul ben Falafel in ''

Cannonball Run II ''Cannonball Run II'' is a 1983 American action comedy film starring Burt Reynolds and an all-star cast, released by Warner Bros. and Golden Harvest. The film is the second installment of the ''Cannonball Run'' trilogy and a sequel to ''The Ca ...

'' *Embry Wallis in ''

The Greatest Game Ever Played ''The Greatest Game Ever Played'' is a 2005 American biographical sports film based on the early life of amateur golf champion Francis Ouimet and his surprise winning of the 1913 U.S. Open. The film was directed by Bill Paxton, and was his las ...

'' *The Whale in ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a Science fiction comedy, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), radio sitcom broadcast over two series on BBC ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Formica, Daniele 1949 births 2011 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin People from Drogheda People from Bassano del Grappa Male actors from Veneto Italian male film actors Italian male stage actors Italian male television actors Italian male voice actors Italian male dramatists and playwrights Italian theatre directors Italian television personalities Italian people of Irish descent Irish emigrants to Italy Deaths from cancer in Veneto Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Italy 20th-century Italian male actors 21st-century Italian male actors 20th-century Italian male writers 21st-century Italian male writers 20th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Italian dramatists and playwrights