Mario Riva

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Mario Riva (actually Mario Bonavolontà ; born January 26, 1913 in Rome , † September 1, 1960 in Verona ) was an Italian television presenter and actor .

Signature of Mario Riva

Life

Riva was the son of the song composer Giuseppe Bonvolontà and initially worked for a long time as a noisemaker for the dubbing company "Fono Roma" and as a presenter and speaker for the radio. Together with Riccardo Billi , he developed characters like the lazy, spoiled and picky Roman "Romoletto Faticoni" and numerous skits that were well received by radio listeners. He made his theater debut in 1942 as emcee for the play “Clan”, even if his moderation was criticized as being too verbose and stubborn; the following year he was hired for Aria Nuova (with Paola Borboni ). Further revues followed: At the end of the war, “Che ti sei messo in testa” and “Con un palmo di naso”, in which he was on stage with Totò and Anna Magnani . Then Riva celebrated numerous successes with his old radio colleague Billi, next to whom he was celebrated in a number of pieces: “I sette colli” (1947), Garinei and Giovannini's “Bisarca” (1950) and her first own major revue “Alta tensione”. More followed at annual intervals: "I fanatici" (1952), "Caccia al tesoro" (1953), "Siamo tutti dottori" (1954) and the triumphant musical comedy by Garinei and Giovannini, "La granduchessa ei camerieri" 1955, with who was committed as a female star to Wanda Osiris . “Gli italiani sono fatto così” (1956) did not disappoint either.

With the emerging triumph of television, Riva switched to the relatively new medium. After the debut there, the bizarre and strange "Duecento al secondo" rubrics, were received very critically in 1955, and the successor "La piazzetta" he achieved with "Musichiere", which he presented from 1957 until his death, an outstanding one Success that made him one of the biggest stars in Italy in those years.

In contrast, Riva's cinema career was moderate despite a large number of films: If he often offered versions of tried and tested routines (at the beginning mostly with sketch partner Billi), later role offers were mostly stereotypical, albeit competently and sympathetically. Only Alberto Lattuada , with the figure of the caretaker “Pilade” in his 1954 work Meine Lausejungs , offered him an opportunity to escape his rigid cliché.

Riva died during the rehearsals for the “Secondo Festival del Musichiere” in the Arena di Verona when he fell 3 meters into a stage trench that was covered with a tarpaulin and succumbed to the numerous injuries he suffered. His death was talked about for days across Italy; the funeral was attended by thousands.

Riva was married to actress Diana Dei ; their son Antonella works as a television director.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1941: Due cuori sotto sequestro
  • 1954: My lousy boys (Scuola elementare)
  • 1955: The Boy Wonder (Bravissimo)
  • 1958: Mia nonna poliziotto
  • 1958: Be bright, stay bachelor (Gli zitelloni)
  • 1958: Totò and Peppino (Totò, Peppino e le fantiche)
  • 1960: Il vigile

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Enrico Lancia, Article Mario Riva , in: Enrico Lancia, Roberto Poppi: Dizionario del Cinema Italiano. Gli attori, Vol.2 M-Z. Rome, Gremese 2003, p. 156/157
personal data
SURNAME Riva, Mario
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bonavolontà, Mariuccio (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian television presenter and actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 26, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome
DATE OF DEATH September 1, 1960
Place of death Verona