Antonino "Nino" Frassica (born 11 December 1950) is an Italian actor, comedian and television personality.
Biography and career
Born in
Messina
Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
, Sicily, Frassica is mostly known for his
deadpan humour, characterized by absurd jokes he described as a way of "ruining logic and the Italian language". He is considered "a master of
nonsense humour". He debuted for Italian television with
Renzo Arbore's ''
Quelli della notte'' (1985), in which he played a semi-illiterate friar. Later, again in collaboration with Arbore, he was given a major role in the surreal quiz show ''Indietro tutta!'' (lit. ''Full speed backwards!'', 1987).
Frassica has subsequently featured in numerous comic movies, such as ''Il Bi e il Ba'' (1986),
and TV shows for Italian television. He plays
Marshal
Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...
Antonio "Nino" Cecchini on the Italian TV series ''
Don Matteo'' (2000-present). He co-hosted the second night of the
Sanremo Music Festival 2025 alongside
Bianca Balti,
Cristiano Malgioglio and
Carlo Conti.
Selected filmography
Films
*''
"FF.SS." – Cioè: "...che mi hai portato a fare sopra a Posillipo se non mi vuoi più bene?"'' (1983)
*''
Il Bi e il Ba'' (1985)
*''
Mortacci'' (1989)
*''
Vacanze di Natale '91'' (1991)
*''
Sognando la California'' (1992)
*''
Anni 90'' (1992)
*''
Anni 90: Parte II'' (1993)
*''
La fidanzata di papà'' (2008)
*''
Baarìa'' (2009)
*''
Somewhere'' (2010)
*''
The Tourist'' (2010)
*''
Natale a Londra – Dio salvi la regina'' (2016)
*''
Omicidio all'italiana'' (2017)
*''
No Country for Young Men'' (2017)
*''
One Of The Family'' (2018)
*''
School of Mafia'' (2021)
*''
Improvvisamente Natale'' (2022)
*''
Improvvisamente a Natale mi sposo'' (2023)
*''
Pare parecchio Parigi'' (2024)
TV series
*''
Don Matteo'' (
Rai 1
Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship television channel and is known for broadcasting ...
, 2000–present)
*''
L'ispettore Coliandro
''Inspector Coliandro'' () is an Italian television series aired on Rai 2 since 2006, starring Giampaolo Morelli, directed by Marco Manetti and Manetti Bros., Antonio Manetti (collectively referred to as Manetti Bros.). The series is a black come ...
'' (
Rai 2, 2009)
*
''Mario'' (
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
, 2013)
*''
The Mafia Kills Only in Summer''
(Rai 1, 2016)
TV programs
*''
Quelli della notte'' (
RAIDUE, 1985)
*
''Fantastico 7'' (
RAIUNO, 1986–1987)
*''Indietro tutta!'' (RAIDUE, 1987–1988)
*''XLIX
Zecchino d'Oro
Zecchino d'Oro (; meaning "Golden Sequin") is an annual Italian competition dedicated to children's music established in 1959 by Niny Comolli. It is broadcast by Rai 1 and is open to singers aged 4 to 10.
The first two contests were held i ...
'' (Rai 1, 2006)
*''
Che tempo che fa'' (Rai 1, 2017–19; Rai 2, since 2019)
*''Indietro tutta! 30 e l'od''e (Rai 2, 2017)
Radio
*''Programmone'' (
Radio 2, since 2015)
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frassica, Nino
1950 births
Italian male actors
Italian television personalities
Living people
Male actors from Messina
Mass media people from Sicily
Italian male comedians