Raimondo Vianello (7 May 1922 – 15 April 2010) was an Italian film actor, comedian, and television host. He was a well-known Italian television personality.

Biography

He was born 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, ...

, but spent his youth in

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

, where his father, an

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

of the Regia Marina, directed the local naval academy. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he joined the

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...

, the fascist puppet state established in northern Italy after the Allied invasion of Italy. He was captured by American troops. In 1958 he met actress Sandra Mondaini, whom he married four years later, and with whom he frequently appeared in TV shows during his whole career. His first famous partner on the small screen was

Ugo Tognazzi Ottavio "Ugo" Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the most important faces of Italian comedy together with Vittorio Gassman, Nino Manfredi, Marcello Mastr ...

with whom, starting from 1954, he hosted the satyrical show ''Un due tre''; the show was halted in 1959 after the duo performed an ironical sketch about the then-president of the Republic, Giovanni Gronchi. Vianello then moved full-time to cinema, appearing in a total of 79 films between 1947 and 1968. In the 1970s he returned to RAI (the Italian state broadcasting company, then the only one existing) with a series of Saturday shows which made him and Mondaini extremely popular as hosts and authors of sketches. During his TV career Vianello also hosted quiz shows, such as ''Zig Zag'' and ''Il gioco del 9'' on Canale 5; he also hosted the 1998 edition of the Sanremo Music Festival and, from 1991 to 1999, ''Pressing'',

Mediaset Mediaset S.p.A. is an Italian mass media and television production and distribution company that is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE – MediaForEurope (the original ...

's Sunday night sports talk show. His best-known and long-lasting TV programme, '' Casa Vianello'', was a

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

shot from 1988 to 2008 and broadcast by Mediaset channels Canale 5 and later moved to Rete 4, in which he and Mondaini played fictionalised versions of themselves. He died at the San Raffaele Hospital of kidney failure 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 ...

on 15 April 2010 at the age of 87. His wife Sandra Mondaini died on 21 September 2010, in San Raffaele hospital in Milan, 5 months after he died.

Selected filmography

* '' Departure at Seven'' (1946) * '' Fear and Sand'' (1948) * ''

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

'' (1951) * ''

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'' (1952) * '' Laugh! Laugh! Laugh!'' (1954) * '' My Wife's Enemy'' (1959) * '' Guardatele ma non toccatele'' (1959) * '' Sua Eccellenza si fermò a mangiare'' (1961) * '' Hercules in the Valley of Woe'' (1961) * '' Amore all'italiana'' (1965) * '' I figli del leopardo'' (1965) * '' Il vostro super agente Flit'' (1966) * '' For a Few Dollars Less'' (1966) * '' Seven Times Seven'' (1968)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vianello, Raimondo 1922 births 2010 deaths Italian male film actors Italian male comedians Italian television presenters Male actors from Rome People of Venetian descent People of Marchesan descent 20th-century Italian male actors 21st-century Italian male actors 20th-century Italian comedians 21st-century Italian comedians Deaths from kidney failure in Italy Comedians from Rome