David Ottolenghi (born 3 January 1956), known by the pseudonym Gioele Dix, is an Italian

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

Life

Born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

to a family of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

descent, Gioele Dix began his theatrical career at the end of the 1970s, promoting and animating the Milan stage company Teatro degli Eguali. Among the numerous plays he took part in are: ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'', a rock

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

from

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

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 ...

(who went on to direct a

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

); ''A Martian in Rome'' by

Ennio Flaiano Ennio Flaiano (5 March 1910 – 20 November 1972) was an Italian screenwriter, playwright, novelist, journalist, and drama critic. Best known for his work with Federico Fellini, Flaiano co-wrote ten screenplays with the Italian director, includi ...

, directed by Antonio Salines; two stagings of Molière's ''

The Imaginary Invalid ''The Imaginary Invalid'', ''The Hypochondriac'', or ''The Would-Be Invalid'' ( French title ''Le Malade imaginaire'', ) is a three- act ''comédie-ballet'' by the French playwright Molière with dance sequences and musical interludes ( H.495, H ...

'' and ''

Tartuffe ''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; , ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy (or more specifically, a farce) by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical theat ...

'' with veteran actor Franco Parenti. Intending to pursue a career as a

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

, he appeared at the Derby Club and the Zelig, important historical Milan

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

s, reaching fame in 1988 in the TV variety show ''Cocco'' on

Rai 2 Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting '' TG2'' news bulletins, ta ...

with the character of a permanently enraged car driver. In the 1990s he confirmed his popularity as a stage actor, as well as a

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, in a number of works and on TV, but often also as a comedian sending up and imitating renowned

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

players in prime-time sports shows. In the 2000s, Dix had various movie engagements and filmed for the national TV together with

Giorgio Albertazzi Giorgio Albertazzi (20 August 1923 – 28 May 2016) was an Italian actor and film director. Born in San Martino a Mensola, Tuscany, Albertazzi joined the Italian Social Republic and reached the rank of lieutenant. After their defeat, he spent ...

in 2004. Among the many theatrical works, he interpreted ''Cuori pazzi'' by F.T Altan (2000), ''The Libertine'' by E.E. Schmitt together with Ottavia Piccolo (2001) where he is the first Italian man playing naked, ''

Corto Maltese ''Corto Maltese'' ( ; ) is a series of adventure comics named after the character Corto Maltese, an adventurous sailor. It was created by the Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt in 1967. The comics are highly praised as some of the most arti ...

'' from scripts by

Hugo Pratt Ugo Eugenio Prat (15 June 1927 – 20 August 1995), better known as Hugo Pratt, was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as '' Corto Maltese''. He was indu ...

and music by

Paolo Conte Paolo Conte (; born 6 January 1937) is an Italian singer, pianist, songwriter and lawyer, known for his distinctly grainy, resonant voice. His compositions fuse Italian and Mediterranean sounds with jazz, boogie and elements of the French and ...

. He the returned to the stage with '' Edipo.com'', directed by

Sergio Fantoni Sergio Fantoni (7 August 1930 – 17 April 2020) was an Italian actor, voice actor, playwright and director. Biography Fantoni was born in Rome to the actor Cesare Fantoni. He began his career appearing in films, radio dramas, television and t ...

(2003); then ''La Bibbia ha quasi sempre ragione'' with Cesare Picco at the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

(2004), all of them plays enhancing the narrative dimension of the story, thus exploiting Dix's natural talent as a raconteur. In 2007, he was engaged in the cast of ''Zelig'' (a popular comedy TV show) as one of the comedians, interpreting his now famous caricature of the "permanently enraged car driver". In 2008, he staged ''Tutta colpa di Garibaldi'' with scripts by himself, Sergio Fantoni and Nicola Fano, directed by Fantoni; he followed with the play ''Dixplay'' by himself, with the participation of Bebo Best Baldan.

Filmography

*''Crimini - Disegno di sangue'', directed by Gianfranco Cabiddu (

) *''Tracce di vita amorosa'', directed by Peter Del Monte (1990) *''Per non dimenticare'', directed by Massimo Martelli (1992) *''Tre passi nel delitto'', directed by Fabrizio Laurenti (1993) *''Bidoni'', directed by Felice Farina (1995) *''Olimpo Lupo, cronista di nera'', directed by Fabrizio Laurenti (1995) *''Uno di noi'', (1996) *'' All the Moron's Men'' (1999) *''Se fossi in te'', directed by Giulio Manfredonia (2001) *''Cerco lavoro'', directed by Fratelli Frazzi (2002) *''Marcinelle'', directed by Vincenzo Verdecchi (2004) *''Ora e per sempre'', directed by Vincenzo Verdecchi (2004) *''Ricomincio da me'', directed by Rossella Izzo (2005) *''A voce alta'', directed by Vincenzo Verdecchi (2006) *''Tutti i rumori del mondo'', directed by Tiziana Aristarco (2007) *'' Happily Mixed Up'', directed by Massimiliano Bruno (2014) * ''

We Still Talk ''We Still Talk'' ( Italian: ''Lei mi parla ancora'') is a 2021 Italian romantic drama film co-written and directed by Pupi Avati and starring Renato Pozzetto and Stefania Sandrelli. Plot Cast * Renato Pozzetto as Giuseppe 'Nino' Sga ...

'', directed by

Pupi Avati Giuseppe Avati, better known as Pupi Avati (born 3 November 1938), is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known to horror film fans for his two '' giallo'' masterpieces, '' The House with Laughing Windows'' (1976) and '' ...

(2021)

Theatre

*''La mia patente non scade mai'', directed by Gioele Dix (1988–89) *''Mai a stomaco vuoto'', directed by Gioele Dix (1990) *''Antologia di Edipo'', directed by Gioele Dix (1991–92) *''Anna'', directed by Gioele Dix (1992–93) *''Sto ristrutturando'', directed by Gioele Dix (1993–94) *''Questa estate'', directed by Gioele Dix (1994) *''Cinque Dix'', directed by Gioele Dix (1995) *''Mi sembra che andiamo bene'', directed by Gioele Dix (1997–98) *''L'uomo degli appuntamenti, directed by Gioele Dix (1998) *''Recital'', directed by Gioele Dix (1999) *''Agamennone'', directed by Giorgio Gallione (2000) *''Cuori pazzi'', directed by Giorgio Gallione (2000–01) *''Il Libertino'', directed by

(2001–02) *''Mappa del nuovo mondo'', readings from

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott OM (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem '' Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as ...

, directed by Piero Maccarinelli (2002) *''A posto così'', directed by Gioele Dix (2002) *''Corto Maltese'', directed by Giorgio Gallione (2003–04) *''Edipo.com'', directed by Sergio Fantoni (2003–05) *''La Bibbia ha (quasi) sempre ragione'', directed by Andree Ruth Shamma (2003–07) *''Grand Tour'', travel chronicles of illustrious people, directed by Gioele Dix (2004) *''Amore a prima vista'', readings of poems by

Wisława Szymborska Maria Wisława Anna SzymborskaVioletta Szostagazeta.pl, 9 February 2012. ostęp 11 February 2012 (; 2 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a Polish people, Polish poet, essayist, translator, and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Liter ...

(2004) *''I ragazzi hanno orecchie'', fables by Fernand Deligny, directed by Gioele Dix (2005) *''Meglio il nuovo oggi (L'innovazione fa spettacolo)'', directed by Serena Sinigaglia (2006) *''Tutta colpa di Garibaldi'', directed by Sergio Fantoni (2008) *''Dixplay'', directed by Giancarlo Bozzo (2008)

Bibliography

Dix has also published some comedic books: * ''Il manuale del vero automobilista'' (M.M., 1991) * ''Cinque Dix'' (Baldini&Castoldi, 1995) * ''La Bibbia ha quasi sempre ragione'' (

Mondadori Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 19 ...

, 2003) * ''Manuale dell'automobilista incazzato'' (Mondadori, 2007)

External links

*
Official YouTube Account"Gieole Dix, My Roots", by C. Cannella
(''

Corriere della Sera (; ) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 246,278 copies in May 2023. First published on 5 March 1876, is one of Italy's oldest newspapers and is Italy's most read newspaper. Its masthead has remain ...

'', 2004) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dix, Gioele Living people 1956 births Italian male comedians 20th-century Italian Jews 21st-century Italian Jews 20th-century Italian male actors 21st-century Italian male actors 20th-century Italian male writers 21st-century Italian male writers Italian male stage actors Italian male film actors Italian people of Jewish descent Jewish male comedians Jewish male actors Male actors from Milan Comedians from Milan Italian stand-up comedians