Enzo Cerusico (22 October 1937 – 26 November 1991) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1948 and 1984.

Life and career

The son of a production manager, Cerusico started his career as a child actor in 1948, playing a role of weight in

Alessandro Blasetti Alessandro Blasetti (3 July 1900 – 1 February 1987) was an Italian film director and screenwriter who influenced Italian neorealism with the film ''Four Steps in the Clouds''. Blasetti was one of the leading figures in Italian cinema during the ...

's '' Heart and Soul''. He studied acting first at the and later with Alessandro Fersen, and had his breakout on stage in the 1960s, playing the title role in ''Meo Patacca''.

Career in the United States

Cerusico's first role on American television was in a 1966 episode of '' I Spy'' filmed in

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, ...

. Producer Sheldon Leonard held a casting call for an English-speaking actor to play the kid brother of the female Italian guest star. Cerusico spoke no English but with a friend's help he memorized one line — "I studied English in the school since four years" — and managed to bluff his way into an interview with Leonard.Goodwin, Fritz. (1969, 31 May – 6 June). ''The operation was a failure ... but the patient survived''. ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

''. Leonard realized Cerusico wasn't fluent in English but he thought the young man possessed " Jean Paul Belmondo's jaunty virility and the swaggering charm of

Maurice Chevalier Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor, and entertainer. He is best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", " Louise", " Mimi", and " Thank Heaven f ...

." Leonard chose Cerusico for the ''I Spy'' guest role and Cerusico learned his lines phonetically and delivered them by rote. Cerusico later played the title character in '' My Friend Tony'', an hour-long crime drama that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

in 1969.

Personal life

Cerusico's family had hoped he would follow tradition and become a physician. But during his teen years, Cerusico realized he wouldn't be a good doctor and decided he "didn't want to be one among many, a mediocre." While living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

during filming of ''My Friend Tony'', Enzo and Tiziana learned English by reading

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

's short stories and watching

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trust ...

's evening newscasts. The couple used an audio

tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present ...

to record the ''

CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featu ...

'' each night and replayed the tape three times, Enzo said: "First for the separate words, then for the sentences and finally to find out what the news was." Publicity materials released in 1969 for ''My Friend Tony'' gave the 32-year-old Cerusico's age as 25.

Selected filmography

* '' Heart and Soul'' (1948) - Nelli * '' Feathers in the Wind'' (1950) - Little patriot * '' Brief Rapture'' (1951) * ''I due derelitti'' (1951) * '' Viva il cinema!'' (1952) - (uncredited) * '' Red Shirts'' (1952) - Ciceruacchio's son * '' In Olden Days'' (1952) - The drummer (segment "Il tamburino sardo") * '' The Angels of the District'' (1952) - Il Capo * '' La figlia del diavolo'' (1952) * '' Una croce senza nome'' (1952) * '' It's Never Too Late'' (1953) - Antonio Trabbi bambino * '' Guendalina'' (1957) - Postino * ''

La Dolce Vita ''La Dolce Vita'' (; Italian for 'the sweet life' or 'the good life'Kezich, 203) is a 1960 satirical comedy-drama film directed by Federico Fellini and written by Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli, and Brunello Rondi. The film stars M ...

'' (1960) - Fotografo * '' Il Mattatore'' (1960) - Benito Mesci (uncredited) * '' Siege of Syracuse'' (1960) - Giovane allievo (uncredited) * '' Colossus and the Amazon Queen'' (1960) - Menandro * ''Il gobbo'' (1960) - Scheggia * '' Ghosts of Rome'' (1961) - L'uomo corteggiamento giovane * ''

Tiro al piccione ''Pigeon Shoot'' or ''Pigeon Shooting'' () is a 1961 Italy, Italian war film, war drama film. It represents the directorial debut film of Giuliano Montaldo. The film entered the competition at Venice Film Festival in 1961. Cast *Jacques Charri ...

'' (1961) - Montaldo - the shepherd killed * ''Cronache del '22'' (1961) - (segment "Giorno di paga") * '' Duel of the Titans'' (1961) - Numa Pompilio * ''Pugni pupe e marinai'' (1961) - Raffaele Bottari * ''

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'' (1962) - Un bandit * '' Duel of Fire'' (1962) - Policeman * '' Hercules, Samson and Ulysses'' (1963) - Ulysses * '' Blood and Black Lace'' (1964) - Gas Station Attendant * ''In ginocchio da te'' (1964) - Gualtiero - cousin of Carla * ''Extraconiugale'' (1964) - Manovale (segment "La doccia") * ''Una storia di notte'' (1964) - Il Matto * ''Mondo pazzo... gente matta!'' (1966) - Marco - The Cello Player * '' Me, Me, Me... and the Others'' (1966) * ' (1966) - Gru (uncredited) * ''Tre notti violente'' (1966) * '' Maigret a Pigalle'' (1966) - Albert * ''

Mi vedrai tornare ''Mi vedrai tornare'' (''You will see me back'') is a 1966 Italy, Italian musicarello, musical romantic comedy film directed by Ettore Maria Fizzarotti. The title is a reference to the Gianni Morandi's eponymous song. Plot Cast * Gianni Morandi ...

'' (1966) - Lt. Saro Spampinato * '' Faustina'' (1968) - Enea Troiani * ''L'invasion'' (1970) - Piero Nato * ''Per amore o per forza'' (1971) * '' Master of Love'' (1972) - Romeo * '' The Dead Are Alive'' (1972) - Alberto * ''Meo Patacca'' (1972) - Marco Pepe * ''Anche se volessi lavorare, che faccio?'' (1972) - Girasole * '' No, the Case Is Happily Resolved'' (1973) - Fabio Santamaria * '' The Five Days'' aka ''Le Cinque Giornate'' (1973) - Romolo Marcelli * ''

Zorro Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...

'' (1975) - Joaquín, Don Diego's Servant * ''Amore mio spogliati... che poi ti spiego!'' (1975) - Alberto Donati * ''A.A.A. cercasi spia... disposta spiare per conto spie'' (1976) - Giovanni Sebastiano Bacchi * ''La lozana andaluza'' (1976) - Rampín * ''Occhio alla vedova'' (1976) * ''7 ragazze di classe'' (1979) - Roberto Galíndez * '' Scusi lei è normale?'' (1979) - Nicola Proietti / 'Nicole' * ''Uno scugnizzo a New York'' (1984) - Anna's Father * '' Treasure Island in Outer Space'' (1987, TV Mini-Series) - Augustine

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerusico, Enzo 1937 births 1991 deaths Italian male film actors Italian male child actors Male actors from Rome Deaths from cancer in Lazio 20th-century Italian male actors