Saro Urzì

Rosario "Saro" Urzì (born February 24, 1913 in Catania , Sicily , Italy ; † November 1, 1979 in San Giuseppe Vesuviano , Italy) was an Italian actor .

Life

Rosario "Saro" Urzì tried a number of professions in the 1930s before moving on to acting. He made his first film attempts as an extra and stuntman. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II , he got his first regular film role. The beefy, stocky Sicilian with the distinctive mustache was mostly used as a powerful and rural, simply knitted and sometimes choleric type. Above all, the director Pietro Germi , who featured him in the role of Carabiniere in the neo-vist mafia drama “ In the Name of the Law ” in 1949 , was to become Urzì's most important sponsor. Urzì received the Silver Ribbon for Best Supporting Actor in 1949 for this performance .

Urzi would also later receive his most subtle tasks in Germi's productions. Often they were straightforward, unadulterated, sturdy, earthy and above all talkative and funny people from the people. In this sense, his Brusco, Peppone's right-hand man, was created, which he embodied in all " Don Camillo and Peppone " comedies between 1951 and 1965 . Saro Urzì could also be seen in adventure flicks and crime films. In 1971 Francis Ford Coppola offered him the small role of Signor Vitelli, the father of Michael Corleone's great love Apollonia, in The Godfather . Almost two decades earlier he had been Humphrey Bogart's partner in John Huston's Italian adventure story Schach dem Teufel in 1953 and was featured in two criticized German trash productions from Gero Wecker's production in 1957/58 ( Liane, die white slave , Romarei, das Girl with the green eyes ) . Other renowned international directors such as Joseph Losey and Claude Chabrol also use Urzì in their productions.

His most notable late role was that of Stefania Sandrelli 's father in Germi's “ Seduction in Italian ”. a "a little disgusting settlement with mendacious notions of family honor and unaffectedness". This film was Italy's 1964 competition entry at the Cannes Film Festival . Urzì was honored ex aequo with Antal Páger in the “ Best Actor ” category and also won the “Silver Ribbon” again. After around 100 films, Saro Urzì stopped working in front of the camera in 1976.

Filmography

• 1939: Il sogno di Butterfly
• 1940: Tosca
• 1940: Conspirators ( Marco Visconti )
• 1941: The pistol shot ( Un colpo di pistola )
• 1941: Inviati speciali
• 1942: Odessa in fiamme
• 1942: Knock-Out ( Harlem )
• 1943: La locandiera
• 1947: Tombolo, paradiso nero
• 1948: emigrants
• 1948: In the name of the law ( In nome della legge )
• 1949: I was a sinner ( Ho sognato il paradiso)
• 1949: With sword and mask ( Lo sparviero del Nilo )
• 1949: Giuliano - The rebel of Sicily ( Il fuorilegge )
• 1949: Duel in the mountains ( Barriera a Settentrione )
• 1950: The Way of Hope ( Il cammino della speranza )
• 1950: Too late, Dr. Marchi ( Il bivio )
• 1951: Trieste mia!
• 1951: The Corsair's Revenge ( La vendetta del corsaro )
• 1951: Don Camillo and Peppone ( Le petit monde de Don Camillo )
• 1952: Fuoco nero
• 1952: Don Camillo's return ( Le retour de Don Camillo )
• 1953: love, bread and jealousy ( Pane, amore e gelosia )
• 1953: Chess the Devil ( Beat the Devil )
• 1953: Casa Ricordi ( Casa Ricordi )
• 1954: Love in a minor key ( Casta Diva )
• 1955: The great battle of Don Camillo ( Don Camillo e l'onorevole Peppone )
• 1956: The red signal ( Il ferroviere )
• 1956: The betrothed of death (I fidanzati della morte)
• 1956: harassed women ( Marchands de filles )
• 1957: Liane, the white slave
• 1957: And sin lurks outside ( L'uomo di paglia )
• 1958: Hell in the City ( Nella città l'inferno )
• 1958: Romarei, the girl with green eyes
• 1958: The red corsair's retaliation ( Il figlio del corsaro rosso )
• 1959: Under smooth skin (Un maledetto imbroglio)
• 1959: Arms for San Salvador ( Gli avventurieri dei tropici )
• 1960: I mafiosi
• 1960: The harvest of sinful girls ( Les filles sèment le vent )
• 1960: Whoever shoots first, has more from life ( Ça va être ta fête )
• 1961: Un giorno da leoni
• 1961: Reverend Don Camillo ( Don Camillo, monsignore ... ma non troppo )
• 1962: Lo sgarro
• 1963: seduction in Italian ( Sedotta e abbandonata )
• 1964: Hot things for Monsieur ( Le corniaud)
• 1965: And the woods will be silent ( Le chant du monde )
• 1965: Comrade Don Camillo ( Il compagno Don Camillo )
• 1965: Modesty Blaise - The Deadly Lady ( Modesty Blaise )
• 1966: La fille de la mer morte
• 1967: The Strait of Corinth ( La route de Corinthe )
• 1968: Serafino, the womanizer ( Il Serafino )
• 1968: Derived from death ( Gente d'onore )
• 1969: Principe coronato cercasi per ricca ereditiera
• 1970: La prima notte del Dr. Danieli, industriale col complesso della buonanima
• 1972: The Godfather ( The Godfather )
• 1972: Alfredo, Alfredo ( Alfredo, Alfredo )
• 1972: The Sicilian ( Torino nera )
• 1972: Il caso Pisciotta
• 1973: Il figlioccio del padrino
• 1974: The division idiot ( Sergente Rompiglioni diventa ... caporale )
• 1975: Giovannino
• 1975: Occhio alla vedova!

literature

• Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 8: T - Z. David Tomlinson - Theo Zwierski. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 111.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 8: T - Z. David Tomlinson - Theo Zwierski. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 111.

Web links

• Saro Urzì in the Internet Movie Database (English)