Studied acting at the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica in Rome.
Vittorio Gassman, born Vittorio Gassmann, was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors of all time. His filmography includes over 100 films, spanning from 1940 to 2002.
Gassman was born in Genoa, Italy, on September 1, 1922. His parents were of German and Italian descent. He had two brothers, one of whom died in infancy. Gassman’s father was a doctor. His mother died when he was two years old.
Gassman was educated at the prestigious Liceo classico Cavour in Turin. He later studied at the University of Rome, where he earned a degree in literature.
Gassman’s acting career began in 1940, when he made his film debut in the comedy La cena delle beffe (The Feast of Fools). He went on to appear in a number of Italian films throughout the 1940s and 1950s.
In 1951, Gassman made his stage debut in the play La locandiera (The Landlady), which was a huge success. He went on to star in a number of other successful stage productions, including I quattro rusteghi (The Four Rustics) and Il berretto a sonagli (The Noise-maker’s Hat).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-yZUU7NSz0
Gassman’s film career reached new heights in the 1960s with his performances in the films La dolce vita (1960), L’armata Brancaleone (1966), and Blow-Up (1966). He won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance in L’armata Brancaleone.
In the 1970s, Gassman continued to appear in both films and television shows. He had a leading role in the miniseries Jesus of Nazareth (1977) and won a Golden Globe Award for his performance in the film A Bridge Too Far (1977).
Gassman’s later film roles include those in La notte di San Lorenzo (1982), Il muro di gomma (1984), and La piovra (1984). He also appeared in several American films, such as The Godfather Part III (1990) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).
Gassman was married three times and had four children. His first wife was the actress Stefania Sandrelli, with whom he had two sons. His second wife was the actress Florinda Bolkan, with whom he had a daughter. His third wife was the actress Alessandra Martines, with whom he had a son.
Gassman died of a heart attack on June 29, 2000, at the age of 77.
Alessandro Gassmann, Paola Gassman, Vittoria Gassman, Jacopo Gassman
Parents
Heinrich Gassmann, Luisa Ambron
Accomplishments
Awards
Cannes Best Actor Award, David di Donatello for Best Actor, Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, David di Donatello Special Award, David di Donatello Special Plate Award, David di Donatello Golden Medal of the Minister of Tourism Award, Honorary Molière Award, David di Donatello International Thea...
Nominations
Strega Prize
Movies
Il Sorpasso, Big Deal on Madonna Street, Bitter Rice, Scent of a Woman, Sleepers, We All Loved Each Other So Much, The Great War, For Love and Gold, War and Peace, Opiate '67, Quintet, Rhapsody, Sharky's Machine, Viva Italia!, Barabbas, Love and Larceny, Life Is a Bed of Roses, The Tiger and the Pus...
From 1961 until 1963 he was the partner of actress Annette Stroyberg.
6
His mother, Luisa Ambron, from Pisa, Tuscany, was an Italian Jew. His father, Heinrich Gassmann, was German, from Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
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Studied acting at the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica in Rome.
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In his public appearances, he often criticized moderated cultural positions and gained some enemies in the world of art for his frank judgments.
9
Became widely popular with Luchino Visconti's theater company, performing in important plays such as Tennessee Williams' "Un tram che si chiama desiderio" (A Streetcar Named Desire) or William Shakespeare's "Rosalinda".
Founded and ran for years one of the most select acting schools.
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The standard joke on him was that he had such an interesting, flexible voice (and such an outstanding acting ability) that he could have made everything he read entertaining and intense. In mid-90s, a satirical show on Italy national TV gave him a 2 minutes space (named "Gassman Legge", literally "Gassman Reads") where he just "acted" few lines from banal, utterly non-poetic texts, e.g. the Yellow Pages, a blood test report, a telephone bill, the classifieds page in a local newspaper and so on. The segment was a success.
Pictures
Movies
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Inferno by Dante
2017
post-production
Dante - Italian Recitation (voice)
La bomba
1999
Don Vito Bracalone
La cena
1998
Maestro Pezzullo
Un homme digne de confiance
1997
TV Movie
Adriano Venturi
Il deserto di fuoco
1997
TV Mini-Series
Tarek
Sleepers
1996
King Benny
Once a Year, Every Year
1994
Giuseppe
Abraham
1993
TV Mini-Series
Terah
Ulisse e la balena bianca
1993
TV Movie
Achab
Quando eravamo repressi
1992
The Sexologist
El largo invierno
1992
Claudio
Rossini! Rossini!
1991
Ludwig van Beethoven (uncredited)
I divertimenti della vita privata
1990
Marquis
Il giudice istruttore
1990
TV Series
Consigliere Istruttore
Les 1001 nuits
1990
Sinbad
Tolgo il disturbo
1990
Augusto Scribani
Dimenticare Palermo
1990
Il Principe
The Sleazy Uncle
1989
Uncle Luca
Mortacci
1989
Domenico
L'altro enigma
1988
TV Movie
Il padre / Sofocle
I picari
1987
Marchese Felipe de Aragona
The Family
1987
Carlo, as a man / Carlo's grandfather
Big Deal After 20 Years
1985
Peppe il pantera
Paradigma
1985
Gottfried
Benvenuta
1983
Livio Carpi
Life Is a Bed of Roses
1983
Walter Guarini
Il conte Tacchia
1982
Prince Torquato Terenzi
Tempest
1982
Alonzo
Sharky's Machine
1981
Victor Scorelli
Il turno
1981
Ciro Coppa
Camera d'albergo
1981
Achille Mengaroni
The Nude Bomb
1980
Sauvage
Nino Salvatori Sebastiani
La terrazza
1980
Mario
Due pezzi di pane
1979
Pippo Mif
Caro pap
1979
Albino Millozza
Quintet
1979
St. Christopher
A Wedding
1978
Luigi Corelli
Viva Italia!
1977
Il cardinale (segment "Tantum ergo") / Il cameriere (segment "Hostaria") / Il marito (segment "Sequestro di persona cara") / ...
Anima persa
1977
Fabio Stolz
Il deserto dei tartari
1976
Colonel Giovanbattista Filimore
Signore e signori, buonanotte
1976
CIA agent / Tuttumpezzo
Come una rosa al naso
1976
Anthony M. Wilson
The Career of a Chambermaid
1976
Franco Denza
The Immortal Bachelor
1975
Andrea Sansoni
We All Loved Each Other So Much
1974
Gianni Perego
Scent of a Woman
1974
Il capitano Fausto Consolo
La Tosca
1973
Scarpia
What Am I Doing in the Middle of the Revolution
1972
Guido Guidi
L'udienza
1972
Principe Donati
Senza famiglia, nullatenenti cercano affetto
1972
Armando Zavanatti
In nome del popolo italiano
1971
Lorenzo Santenocito
Scipione detto anche l'africano
1971
Catone il Censore
Brancaleone alle Crociate
1970
Brancaleone da Norcia
L'uomo dal fiore in bocca
1970
TV Short
L'uomo dal fiore
Il divorzio
1970
Leonardo Nenci
Contestazione generale
1970
Riccardo
L'arcangelo
1969
Furio Bertuccia
12 + 1
1969
Mario Beretti
Dove vai tutta nuda?
1969
Rufus Conforti
L'alibi
1969
Vittorio
La pecora nera
1968
Mario Agasti / Filippo Agasti
Il profeta
1968
Pietro Breccia
Catch As Catch Can
1968
Bob Chiaramonte
Questi fantasmi
1967
Pasquale Lojacono
Woman Times Seven
1967
Cenci (segment "Two Against One")
The Tiger and the Pussycat
1967
Francesco Vincenzini
The Devil in Love
1966
Belfagor
Le piacevoli notti
1966
Bastiano da Sangallo
L'armata Brancaleone
1966
Brancaleone da Norcia
A Maiden for the Prince
1966
Principe don vincenzo gonzaga
Slalom
1965
Lucio Ridolfi
The Secret Agents
1965
Perego / Ferrari (French)
La congiuntura
1964
Giuliano
Il gaucho
1964
Marco Ravicchio
Let's Talk About Women
1964
Stranger / Practical Joker / Client / ...
Frenesia dell'estate
1964
Captain Mario Nardoni
I mostri
1963
The Actor (segment "La Raccomandazione") / Policeman (segment "Il Mostro") / Favilla (segment "Presa dalla Vita") / ...
Il successo
1963
Giulio Ceriani
The Eye of the Needle
1963
Giorgio Mazzanò - lawyer
L'amore difficile
1962
L'avvocato (segment "L'avaro")
La marcia su Roma
1962
Domenico Rocchetti
Il Sorpasso
1962
Bruno Cortona
Anima nera
1962
Adriano Zucchelli
Barabbas
1961
Sahak
I briganti italiani
1961
O Caporale
The Last Judgment
1961
Cimino
Fantasmi a Roma
1961
Giovanni Battista Villari, aka 'il Caparra'
Adelchi
1961
TV Movie
...And Suddenly It's Murder!
1960
Remo
Love and Larceny
1960
Gerardo Latini
Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti
1959
Peppe er pantera
Le sorprese dell'amore
1959
The Schoolteacher (uncredited)
La cambiale
1959
Michele
The Miracle
1959
Guido
La grande guerra
1959
Giovanni Busacca
Tempest
1958
Prosecutor
The Love Specialist
1958
Piero di Montalcino
Big Deal on Madonna Street
1958
Peppe il pantera
Kean - Genio e sregolatezza
1957
Edmund Kean
Defend My Love
1956
Giovanni Marchi
War and Peace
1956
Anatol Kuragin
The Violent Patriot
1956
Giovanni De Medici
Amleto
1955
TV Movie
Amleto (Hamlet)
Beautiful But Dangerous
1955
Prince Sergei
Mambo
1954
Mario Rossi
Rhapsody
1954
Paul Bronte
Cry of the Hunted
1953
Jory
Sombrero
1953
Alejandro Castillo
The Glass Wall
1953
Peter Kaban
La tratta delle bianche
1952
Michele (as Vittorio Gassmann)
The Dream of Zorro
1952
Don Antonio / Juan
Anna
1951
Vittorio (as Vittorio Gassmann)
La corona negra
1951
Mauricio
Double Cross
1951
Renato Salvi
Il leone di Amalfi
1950
Mauro
Lo sparviero del Nilo
1950
Yussuf (as Vittorio Gassmann)
I fuorilegge
1950
Turi
Streets of Sorrow
1950
Giorgio
Lure of the Sila
1949
Pietro Campolo (as Vittorio Gassmann)
Una voce nel tuo cuore
1949
Paolo Baldini
Bitter Rice
1949
Walter (as Vittorio Gassmann)
The Mysterious Rider
1948
Giacomo Casanova, cavaliere di Seingalt
L'ebreo errante
1948
Mathieu Nahum / Mathieu Blumenthal
Daniele Cortis
1947
Daniele Cortis
Le avventure di Pinocchio
1947
Il Pescatore Verde
Shamed
1947
Davide
La figlia del capitano
1947
Svabrin
Incontro con Laura
1945
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Ulisse e la balena bianca
1993
TV Movie
Di padre in figlio
1982
Senza famiglia, nullatenenti cercano affetto
1972
screenplay / story
L'alibi
1969
screenplay / story
Kean - Genio e sregolatezza
1957
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
L'altro enigma
1988
TV Movie
Di padre in figlio
1982
Senza famiglia, nullatenenti cercano affetto
1972
L'alibi
1969
Adelchi
1961
TV Movie
Kean - Genio e sregolatezza
1957
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Caro pap
1979
performer: "Bambina innamorata" - uncredited
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Amleto
1955
TV Movie director: stage production
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Caro Vittorio
2004
Documentary short
Himself
Drôles, tendre et méchants: La comédie
1999
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Luchino Visconti
1999
Documentary
Himself
Caiga quien caiga
1997
TV Series
Himself
Speciale mastroianni - il fascino della normalit
1996
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Cento di questi anni
1994
Documentary short
Se stesso
De tú a tú
1992
TV Series
Felicidades, Alberti
1991
TV Movie
Himself
La ronda
1991
TV Series
Himself
La nuit des Molières
1991
TV Series documentary
Himself
Bouillon de culture
1991
TV Series documentary
Himself
Cinema 3
1990
TV Series
Himself
Ahí te quiero ver
1987
TV Series
Himself
Galeria oberta
1986
TV Series
Himself
The Great Hamlets
1983
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself
Le grand échiquier
1983
TV Series
Himself
Champs-Elysées
1982
TV Series
Himself
Di padre in figlio
1982
Himself
Vittorio Gassman aux enchères
1982
TV Movie
Himself
Apostrophes
1982
TV Series
Himself
La nuit des Césars
1981
TV Series documentary
Himself - Host
Sono fotogenico
1980
Himself (uncredited)
Portrait de Vittorio Gassman
1979
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Les rendez-vous du dimanche
1977
TV Series
Himself
E il Casanova di Fellini?
1975
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Apropos Film
1975
TV Series documentary
Himself
Samedi soir
1974
TV Series
Himself
Io e...
1972
TV Series documentary
Himself
Rom aktuell
1969
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1966
TV Series
Himself
Una vita difficile
1961
Himself (uncredited)
Person to Person
1960
TV Series documentary
Himself
En direct de...
1956
TV Series documentary
Himself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
GT Ragazzi
2009
TV Series documentary
Himself
Ceremonia de inauguración - 56º Festival internacional de cine de San Sebastián
2008
TV Movie
Il falso bugiardo
2008
Himself
La mandrágora
2008
TV Series
Cámara negra. Teatro Victoria Eugenia
2007
TV Short documentary
Himself
Premio Donostia a Matt Dillon
2006
TV Special
Himself
Premio Donostia a Max Von Sydow
2006
TV Special
Himself
Adolfo Celi, un uomo per due culture
2006
Documentary
Himself
Corazón de...
2006
TV Series
Himself
Premio Donostia a Willem Dafoe
2005
TV Special
Himself
The 73rd Annual Academy Awards
2001
TV Special
Himself (Memorial Tribute)
Cinema Paradiso
1988
Walter (uncredited)
Miris poljskog cveca
1977
Himself
Un sorriso, uno schiaffo, un bacio in bocca
1975
Io la conoscevo bene
1965
Himself (uncredited)
Ridendo e scherzando - Ritratto di un regista all'italiana
2015
Documentary
Còmics
2015
TV Series
Himself
Colpo di scena
2014
TV Series
Gianni Perego
Felice chi è diverso
2014
Documentary
Himself (uncredited)
Dante's Hell Animated
2013
Short
Dante
L'uomo dai quattro nomi
2013
Dai nostri inviati: La Rai racconta la Mostra del cinema di Venezia 1980-1989
2013
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Close Up
2012
Documentary
Himself
Dai nostri inviati: La Rai e l'Istituto Luce raccontano la Mostra del cinema di Venezia 1932-1953
2012
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Too Young to Die
2012
TV Series documentary
Mario Beretti
Dai nostri inviati: La Rai racconta la Mostra del cinema 1954-1967
2010
TV Movie documentary
Himself
1960
2010
Documentary
Himself
Vittorio racconta Gassman: Una vita da mattatore
2010
Documentary
Himself
Volando con Visconti
2010
Awards
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
2005
Platinum Award for Cinematic Excellence
Viareggio EuropaCinema
Posthumously.
2000
Special Silver Ribbon
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
Posthumously.
1999
Silver Ribbon
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
Best Supporting Actor (Migliore Attore Non Protagonista)
La cena (1998)
1997
Prince of Asturias Award
Prince of Asturias Awards
Arts
1996
40th Anniversary David
David di Donatello Awards
1996
Career Golden Globe
Golden Globes, Italy
1996
Career Golden Lion
Venice Film Festival
1991
Special David
David di Donatello Awards
1990
Career Goblet
Golden Goblets, Italy
1990
Silver Ribbon
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
Best Actor (Migliore Attore Protagonista)
Lo zio indegno (1989)
1990
Career Charybdis
Taormina International Film Festival
1989
Special Jury Award
Montréal World Film Festival
For his artistic contribution to cinema.
1988
Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award
San Sebastián International Film Festival
1987
David
David di Donatello Awards
Best Actor (Migliore Attore Protagonista)
La famiglia (1987)
1987
Golden Ciak
Golden Ciak Awards
Best Actor (Migliore Attore Protagonista)
La famiglia (1987)
1986
Career Award
Cervia Spettacoli e Dintorni Festival
1984
Special Plate
David di Donatello Awards
1982
Golden Medal of the Minister of Tourism
David di Donatello Awards
1979
David
David di Donatello Awards
Best Actor (Migliore Attore)
Caro pap (1979)
1975
Best Actor
Cannes Film Festival
Profumo di donna (1974)
1975
David
David di Donatello Awards
Best Actor (Migliore Attore)
Profumo di donna (1974)
1975
Golden Globe
Golden Globes, Italy
Best Actor (Migliore Attore)
Profumo di donna (1974)
1975
Golden Goblet
Golden Goblets, Italy
Best Actor (Migliore Attore)
Profumo di donna (1974)
1975
Silver Ribbon
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
Best Actor (Migliore Attore Protagonista)
Profumo di donna (1974)
1973
Golden Globe
Golden Globes, Italy
Best First Feature (Migliore Opera Prima)
Senza famiglia, nullatenenti cercano affetto (1972)