Vittorio Mezzogiorno

Vittorio Mezzogiorno in 1989

Vittorio Mezzogiorno (born December 16, 1941 in Cercola , † January 7, 1994 in Milan ) was an Italian actor .

biography

The son of a grain dealer studied medicine for a year after graduating from school. He then took up a law degree, during which he made his first acting experience in the student theater. After completing his exams and obtaining a doctorate in law, Mezzogiorno shifted his professional focus entirely to acting. At the theater he played under the direction of Eduardo De Filippo in his company. He appeared alongside famous colleagues such as Aldo Giuffrè and Carlo Giuffré in plays by Aristophanes , Bert Brecht and Eugène Ionesco . In the ensemble of Peter Brooks Le Mahabharata , a ten-hour epic about Indian mythology, Mezzogiorno went on a world tour in the role of the demigod Arjuna for two years and gave guest appearances at the Avignon Festival (1985), the Royal Shakespeare Company , in Paris, Athens and Barcelona , Madrid, Lyon, Zurich, Los Angeles, New York, Perth, Adelaide, Copenhagen, Glasgow and Tokyo.

Mezzogiorno's appearances in the cinema were also mainly characterized by working with great directors. He made his debut in this medium in 1975 in Jean-Louis Comolli's La Cecilia . In his film career spanning almost twenty years, he played a. a. the middle of the three brothers (alongside Philippe Noiret and Michele Placido ) in Francesco Rosi 's drama of the same name, in Jean-Jacques Brilleix 's drama The Moon in the Gutter (next to Gérard Depardieu ), in Patrice Chéreaus The seduced man - L'Homme blessé , in Dino Risi's comedy ... and life goes on , in Werner Herzog's mountaineering drama Cerro Torre - Schrei aus Stein , in Jenatsch (based on Conrad Ferdinand Meyer ) and mid-season - each directed by Daniel Schmid - as well as in Marco Bellocchio's provocative drama The conviction that won a Silver Bear at the 1991 Berlinale .

As early as 1963 he made his television debut under the direction of Leonardo Cortese in an adaptation by Alexandre Dumas Luisa Sanfelice . In the following three decades, Mezzogiorno played in numerous television productions that received critical and public attention, such as the 1979 multi-part film adaptation of Jack London's Martin Eden , as Mussolini's confidante Alessandro Pavolini in the drama Ich und der Duce (with Bob Hoskins as "Duce") and in the first three parts of the lavishly staged period film The French Revolution , in which he portrayed Jean-Paul Marat as an uncompromising fanatic. Mezzogiorno was also involved again in the multi-part implementation of Peter Brooks Mahabharata ( The Dice Game / The War / The Exile ). Although he was already seen in four episodes of the television series Le avventure di Laura Storm in 1965 , appearances in television series were rare. The first and only major series role, however, increased his international fame: In 1990 he succeeded Michele Placido as "Corrado Cattani" as a fearless and relentless investigator in the 5th season of the successful production Alone Against the Mafia . The main role of "Commissario Davide Licata" should also be his last professional activity: In the 6th season, the mafia hunter died a serial death.

On October 14, 1972, Mezzogiorno married his colleague Cecilia Sacchi. The marriage had two children. His daughter, Giovanna Mezzogiorno , also works as an actress. In 1993 Mezzogiorno had to be treated for cancer. He died on January 7, 1994 in Milan after a heart attack at the age of only 52.

Filmography (selection)

• 1963: Luisa Sanfelice
• 1965: Le avventure di Laura Storm
• 1975: La Cecilia
• 1975: Il marsigliese (TV series)
• 1976: Death writes the last bill (Milano violenta)
• 1976: La Orca - caught, violated, humiliated (La orca)
• 1979: The dangerous toy (Il giocattolo)
• 1979: Martin Eden
• 1980: A turbo clears the highway (Car Crash)
• 1980: Desideria ( Desideria: La vita interiore )
• 1981: That's why we don't do Harakiri (E noi non faremo Karakiri)
• 1981: Three Brothers (Tre fratelli)
• 1983: The moon in the gutter (La Lune dans le caniveau)
• 1983: The yellow carpet (La casa del tappeto giallo)
• 1983: The Seduced Man - L'Homme blessé (L'Homme blessé)
• 1984: ... and life goes on (... e la vita continua)
• 1985: Me and the Duce (Mussolini and I)
• 1987: Jenatsch
• 1988: physical coercion ( contrainte par corps )
• 1989: The French Revolution - Years of Hope ( La révolution francaise - les années lumières )
• 1989: The French Revolution - Year of Wrath ( La révolution francaise - les années terribles )
• 1989: Mahabharata - The Dice Game / The War / The Exile ( The Mahabharata )
• 1990: Alone against the Mafia 5 ( La piovra 5 - Il cuore del problema )
• 1991: The Judgment ( La condanna )
• 1991: Cerro Torre: Scream made of stone
• 1992: Alone against the Mafia 6 ( La piovra 6 - L'ultimo segreto )
• 1992: mid-season
• 1993: Caccia alle mosche

Web links

• Vittorio Mezzogiorno in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• "He preferred to play lonely wolves" - obituary for V. Mezzogiorno in the Hamburger Abendblatt from January 10, 1994