Erminio Macario (original) (raw)

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Italian actor

Erminio Macario
Macario in the movie Il chiromante
Born (1902-05-27)27 May 1902Turin, Kingdom of Italy
Died 25 March 1980(1980-03-25) (aged 77)Turin, Italy
Occupation Actor
Years active 1933–1975
Spouses Maria Giuliano Giulia Dardanelli ​ ​(m. 1938; died 1980)​
Children Alberto (1943) Mauro (1947)

Erminio Macario (27 May 1902 – 25 March 1980), best known as Macario, was an Italian film actor and comedian. He appeared in 42 films between 1933 and 1975.

Born in Turin, Macario made his debut at a young age in the amateur dramatics company Don Bosco Oratory in Valdocco,[1] then he was part of some small amateur companies in his hometown until 1924. At this time, he was cast in the company of dancing and pantomime of Giovanni Molasso.[2] Soon after, he entered the company of Wanda Osiris, the undisputed queen of the revue of that time in Italy.[2] Between the two wars he became, in a short time, one of the most popular comedians of the revue theatre.[3]

Macario made his film debut in 1933 with Aria di paese, but the success came just six years later with two comedy films directed by Mario Mattoli and co-written by a young Federico Fellini, Imputato alzatevi! and Lo vedi come sei... lo vedi come sei?.[2] After a series of successful comedies directed by Carlo Borghesio since the early fifties, Macario appeared in short characterizations in anthology films and was sidekick of Totò in a number of films.[2] Starting from the mid-sixties he finally dedicated himself to television and theatre.[2]

Macario in Defendant, Stand Up! (1939)

His comical style was referred to as a mixture between Chaplin's Charlot and Marx Brothers.[4]

Partial filmography

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  1. ^ Domenico Seren Gay. Teatro popolare dialettale: indagine-enciclopedia sul teatro piemontese. Priuli & Verlucca, 1977.
  2. ^ a b c d e Gianni Canova (2005). Enciclopedia del cinema. Garzanti, 2009. ISBN 881150516-X.
  3. ^ Ennio Fulgheri (1998). Manuale del cinema italiano. Swan, 1998. ISBN 8886464150.
  4. ^ Valerio Venturi (2010). Cesare Andrea Bixio. L'attività musicale di Bixio per l'industria cinematografica (1920-1945). Libreria Universitaria, 2010. ISBN 978-8862920223.