Antonio Centa

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Antonio Centa (born August 10, 1907 in Maniago , † April 19, 1979 in Rovigo ) was an Italian actor .

Life

Centa's family moved from Friuli to Ferrara during the First World War ; After he had worked in the ceramics industry in his home country after graduating from school, he went to the United States in 1929, where he became Primo Carnera's personal assistant . After his return home, he began as an actor on smaller provincial stages; He was quickly discovered by film and so Centa made his debut in 1936 in Mario Camerini's Ma non è una cosa seria . Gustav Machaty's ballerine in the same year was already a success. Quickly Centa government-backed star cult system of the Italian film industry established in the former, until their almost total war-related standstill 1943. He played, handsome, expressive and youthful, modern, the young officer in feeling crises ( Squadrone bianco , 1936), the attractive football player ( Contessa di Parma , 1937), the disaffected truck driver ( Fari nella nebbia , 1942) and the cynical seducer ( T'amerò semper , 1943). Two roles in particular shaped Centa's public image: the arrogant and extroverted officer in Renato Castellani's film debut Un colpo da pistola in 1942 and the passionate lover in Zazà from the same year. During these years he played alongside most female stars of Cinecittà .

After the end of the Second World War Centa was able to take part in important films such as Assunta Spina (1948) and Ombre sul Canal Grande (1951); however, the changed public taste and his fuller appearance soon led to less extensive roles in smaller and unclaimed films. Only rarely active since the mid-1950s and finally ending his career in film at the end of the following decade, he ran a restaurant in Ferrara for many years.

Centa died in a car accident. In 2009 the documentary Il perdente gentiluomo: Vita e arte di Antonio Centa was released .

Filmography (selection)

  • 1936: Ma non è una cosa seria
  • 1936: Lo squadrone bianco
  • 1937: La contessa di Parma
  • 1939: Una moglie in pericolo
  • 1940: Validità giorni dieci
  • 1940: Il cavaliere di Kruja
  • 1938: Rival of the Tsarina (La pri1ncipessa Tarakanova)
  • 1942: The pistol shot (Un colpo da pistola)
  • 1943: Zazà
  • 1947: Echo of Love (The Glass Mountain)
  • 1947: The Drawn (Assunta Spina)
  • 1948: The mysterious cavalier (Il cavaliere misterioso)
  • 1949: The Road to Doom (La strada buia)
  • 1951: Ombre sul Canal Grande
  • 1952: From country pastor to pope (Gli uomini non guardiano il cielo)
  • 1953: The reward of fear (Le Salaire de la peur)
  • 1953: Mizar - spy in the Orient (Mizar)
  • 1961: Life is difficult (Una vita difficile)
  • 1968: A raven-black sheep (La pecora nera)
  • 1969: L'amore breve

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Enrico Lancia, article Antonio Centa , in: Roberto Chiti, Enrico Lancia, Andrea Orbicciani, Roberto Poppi: Dizionario del cinema italiano. Gli attori. Rome, Gremese 1998. pp. 116/117
  2. ↑ http://www.cinetecadelfriuli.org/cdf/produzioni_tv/perdente_gentiluomo.html
personal data
SURNAME Centa, Antonio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian actor
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Maniago
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 1979
Place of death Rovigo