Umberto Smaila (born 26 June 1950) is an Italian actor, composer, comedian, television personality, entrepreneur, and musician.

Career

Born in

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

to an

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

n family, in the early-1970s Smaila co-founded together with

Jerry Calà Calogero Alessandro Augusto Calà, known by his stage name Jerry Calà (born 28 June 1951), is an Italian actor, filmmaker, comedian and singer who has written, directed, and acted in multiple film and television projects. He is considered one o ...

, Franco Oppini and Ninì Salerno a cabaret-ensemble,

I Gatti di Vicolo Miracoli I Gatti di Vicolo Miracoli () was an Italian comedy and musical act. Formed in 1971, it originally consisted of Jerry Calà, Umberto Smaila, Nini Salerno, Gianandrea Gazzola and Spray Mallory. Gazzola and Mallory left the group in 1975, and were r ...

. The group, reduced to three components since 1982 following Calà's departure, appeared on several successful TV programs and films and released several songs, including the hit singles "Verona Beat" and "Singer Solitude". After the disbandment of the group Smaila was the television presenter of a number of quiz and variety shows, most notably the late night show . In the 1990s, he founded the "U.S. Band", an orchestra with whom he performed in several television programs. Smaila wrote and directed a musical comedy film, ''Italian Boys'', released in 1982. In 1990, he put on a theatre production on the life and music of

Fred Buscaglione Ferdinando "Fred" Buscaglione (; 23 November 1921 – 3 February 1960) was an Italian singer and actor who became very popular in the late 1950s. His public persona – the character he played both in his songs and his movies – was of a humoro ...

. Smaila also composed musical scores for a number of films including '' Beast with a Gun'' (1977), ''

Il ragazzo del pony express ''Il ragazzo del Pony Express'' is a 1986 Italian comedy film. It marked the directorial debut of Franco Amurri. Plot summary Milan, Italy mid-1980s. After graduating with honors, Agostino (nicknamed "Ago") is seeking employment. After escaping ...

'' (1986), '' Sweets from a Stranger'' (1987), ''

Delitti e profumi ''Delitti e profumi'' (also known as ''Crimes and Perfume'') is a 1988 Italian giallo film directed by Vittorio De Sisti, based on a story entitled ''Scarlet'' by Bonadies and De Fornari, both of whom also worked on the screenplay. Traci Lords ap ...

'' (1988), and '' Chicken Park'' (1994). The main theme of ''Beast with a Gun'' was later included in the soundtrack of

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

's ''

Jackie Brown ''Jackie Brown'' is a 1997 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, based on the 1992 novel ''Rum Punch'' by Elmore Leonard. It stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who smuggles money between the United Sta ...

''.

Personal life

Smaila is the founder of the brand Smaila's, a chain of restaurants and nightclubs specialized in live music. He is agnostic.

References

External links

* 1950 births Italian male actors Italian television presenters Businesspeople from Verona Mass media people from Verona Italian film score composers Italian male film score composers Living people Italian male comedians Musicians from Verona Italian pianists Ciak d'oro winners Italian agnostics Actresses from Verona {{Italy-screen-actor-stub