Memo Benassi

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Memo Benassi
Photography by Alexander Schmoll .

Domenico "Memo" Benassi (born June 21, 1891 in Sorbolo , † February 24, 1957 in Bologna ) was an Italian actor .

Life

Benassi studied violoncello at the Parma Conservatory and was discovered during an amateur performance by Gualtiero Tumiati , who signed him for his ensemble. After the 1919/20 season, which he spent in the company Luigi Carini - Olga Vittoria Gentilli , the youthful hero played alongside Eleonora Duse and then in the "Compagnia Benelliana" with Giuseppe Sterni and Tina Pini . In 1922, again with Duse, there were remarkable performances of Ibsen's Ghosts and The Woman from the Sea . An American tour followed, which ended with the death of the actress; Benassi accompanied the remains on their final trip back to Italy.

From 1925 to 1928, Benassi was first under contract with Irma , then with Emma Gramatica , before leading his own ensemble put together by Tommaso Monicelli . Then he was seen as Napoleon in Campo di Maggio for Za-Bum, for Anna Fontana , again for the Gramatica sisters and his first sound film roles. During the further 1930s and the war, he cemented his reputation as a partner to important actresses such as Rina Morelli , Laura Carli and Elena Zareschi . After the end of the war Benassi played under Giorgio Strehler in Mourning must carry Elektra next to Diana Torrieri , then under Luchino Visconti in debt and atonement , later in Troilus and Cressida . Other stations in his work were seasons alongside Cesarina Gheraldi and Evi Maltagliati , 1950/51 at the “Soffitta” in Bologna and 1952/53 at the “Stabile di Roma”. With Lilla Brignone and Gianni Santuccio there were late successes in the 1953/54 season at the “Teatro Stabile di Via Manzoni” in Milan.

In the days of silent films, Benassi had already started a small career when he played in a series of successful dramas for the production company "Silentium" in Milan between 1916 and 1919 and later continued to work for other companies. His sound films are limited to sporadic work as character actors, which were almost entirely discontinued after the Second World War.

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • 1997: Mauro Paladini: Memo Benassi. Attore indipendente, 196 p., Ill., Silva Editore, Parma.
  • 2007: Leonardo Bragaglia: Memo Benassi. Un grande attore diverso, Persiani Editore, Bologna.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Roberto Chiti, Article Memo Benassi , in: Dizionario del cinema italiano. Gli attori. Gremese 1998, pp. 47/48
personal data
SURNAME Benassi, memo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Benassi, Domenico
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian actor
DATE OF BIRTH June 21, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Sorbolo
DATE OF DEATH February 24, 1957
Place of death Bologna