Mario Besesti (20 November 1894 – 21 June 1968) was an Italian

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

Biography

Besesti began a career acting on stage and screen in 1932. He made his film debut in 1938 and among his most popular filmography includes the 1949 film ''

The Mill on the Po ''Il mulino del Po'' (internationally released as ''The Mill on the Po'') is a 1949 Italian drama film directed by Alberto Lattuada. It is based on the novel with the same name by Riccardo Bacchelli. Cast *Carla Del Poggio: Berta *Jacques Sern ...

''. Besesti was also well known as a voice dubber. Because of his strong voice and large build, he usually dubbed actors with the same stature such as Charles Laughton, Edward Arnold, Thomas Mitchell, Raymond Massey,

Sydney Greenstreet Sydney Hughes Greenstreet (December 27, 1879 – January 18, 1954) was a British-American actor. While he did not begin his career in films until the age of 61, he had a run of significant motion pictures in a Hollywood career lasting throu ...

Charles Coburn Charles Douville Coburn (June 19, 1877 – August 30, 1961) was an American actor and theatrical producer. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award three times – in ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941), '' The More the M ...

and many more. Besesti was considered to be one of Italy's most significant, well-known dubbers during the

Golden Ages A golden age is a period considered the apotheosis in the history of a country or people, a time period when the greatness, greatest achievements were made. The term originated from early ancient Greece, Greek and ancient Rome, Roman poets, who ...

. He worked for the Cooperativa Doppiatori Cinematografici and made collaborations with other dubbers which included

Gualtiero De Angelis Gualtiero De Angelis (November 22, 1899 – June 6, 1980) was an Italian actor and voice actor. He was best known for dubbing James Stewart in the Italian language releases of nearly all of his films. Biography Born in Rome, De Angelis began h ...

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and Nino Pavese. Besesti was also active in the Italian dubs of some of the early

Disney animated films This list of theatrical animated feature films consists of animated films produced or released by The Walt Disney Studios, the film division of The Walt Disney Company.This list does not include films or specials streamed on Disney+ as Disne ...

. He dubbed Stromboli in ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan ...

'', The Huntsman in ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

'' and Trusty in ''

Lady and the Tramp ''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American animated musical romance film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. The 15th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and ...

''.

Death

Besesti died in Rome on 21 June 1968 at the age of 73.

Filmography

Cinema

* ''

Pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) w ...

'' (1938) * '' Then We'll Get a Divorce'' (1940) * ''

Short Circuit A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circui ...

'' (1943) * ''

O sole mio "O sole mio" () is a well-known Neapolitan song written in 1898. Its Neapolitan language lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro and the music was composed by Eduardo di Capua (1865–1917) and Alfredo Mazzucchi (1878–1972).. The title tran ...

'' (1945) * '' Eugenia Grandet'' (1947) * ''

'' (1949) * ''

La Rosa di Bagdad ''La Rosa di Bagdad'' (English: ''The Rose of Baghdad'') is a 1949 Italian animated film by Anton Gino Domeneghini. In 1952, the film was dubbed into English, retitled ''The Singing Princess'' and dubbed by Julie Andrews as her first venture into v ...

'' (1949) – Voice * '' My Beautiful Daughter'' (1950) * ''

The Thief of Venice ''The Thief of Venice'' or ''Il Ladro di Venezia'' is a 1950 Italian film directed by John Brahm. The US title was "The Thief of Venice". It was released in the US two years after being made. Plot In 1575 Venice, the Doge has just died and Scar ...

'' (1950)

Dubbing roles

Animation

* Stromboli in ''

'' * The Huntsman in ''

'' * Narrator in ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, ...

'' * Trusty in ''

'' * The King in ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' *

Walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fami ...

in '' Alice in Wonderland'' * Great Prince of the Forest in ''

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten ...

'' * King Bombo in '' Gulliver's Travels''

Live action

* Phineas V. Lambert in ''

If I Had a Million ''If I Had a Million'' is a 1932 American pre-Code Paramount Studios anthology film starring Gary Cooper, George Raft, Charles Laughton, W.C. Fields, Jack Oakie, Frances Dee and Charlie Ruggles, among others. There were seven directors: Ern ...

'' *

Quasimodo Quasimodo (from Quasimodo Sunday) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the novel '' The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (1831) by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster, but ...

in ''

The Hunchback of Notre Dame ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story ...

'' * Sir Humphrey Pengallan in ''

Jamaica Inn The Jamaica Inn is a traditional inn on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall in the UK, which was built as a coaching inn in 1750, and has a historical association with smuggling. Located just off the A30, near the middle of the moor close to the hamlet ...

'' *

William Kidd William Kidd, also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd ( – 23 May 1701), was a Scottish sea captain who was commissioned as a privateer and had experience as a pirate. He was tried and executed in London in 1701 for murder a ...

in ''

Captain Kidd William Kidd, also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd ( – 23 May 1701), was a Scottish sea captain who was commissioned as a privateer and had experience as a pirate. He was tried and executed in London in 1701 for murder a ...

'' * Albert Lory in '' This Land Is Mine'' * Uncle William "Billy" Bailey in ''

It's a Wonderful Life ''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern self-published in 1943 and is in turn loos ...

'' * Michael Howland in ''

Within These Walls ''Within These Walls'' is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison. Unlike later women-in-prison TV series, ...

'' * Tom Blue in '' The Black Swan'' * Thad Vail in '' High Barbaree'' * Reginald "Rags" Barnaby in '' Destry'' * Jim Taylor in '' Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' * Amory Stilham in '' Mrs. Parkington'' * Judge Wilkins in ''

Dear Wife ''Dear Wife'' is a 1949 comedy film starring Joan Caulfield and William Holden. It is the sequel to ''Dear Ruth'', which was based on the Broadway play of the same name by Norman Krasna. Plot Miriam Wilkins is a teenage girl who is campaigning ...

'' * Penrod Biddel in ''

City That Never Sleeps ''City That Never Sleeps'' is a 1953 American film noir crime film directed by John H. Auer and starring Gig Young, Mala Powers, William Talman, Edward Arnold, Chill Wills, Marie Windsor, and Paula Raymond, with cinematography by John L. Russe ...

'' * Jimmy Norton in ''

Meet John Doe ''Meet John Doe'' is a 1941 American comedy-drama film directed and produced by Frank Capra, written by Robert Riskin, and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. The film is about a "grassroots" political campaign created unwittingly by ...

'' * Wolf Larsen in ''

The Sea Wolf Seawolf, Sea wolf or Sea Wolves may refer to: Animals * Sea wolf, a wolf subspecies found in the Vancouver coastal islands * Seawolf (fish), a marine fish also known as wolffish or sea wolf * A nickname of the killer whale * South American sea ...

'' * James R. Judson in ''

From Here to Eternity ''From Here to Eternity'' is a 1953 American drama romance war film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and written by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1951 novel of the same name by James Jones. The picture deals with the tribulations of three U.S. A ...

'' * Pablo in ''

For Whom the Bell Tolls ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned ...

'' *

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

in ''

Viva Villa! ''Viva Villa!'' is a 1934 American pre-Code film directed by Jack Conway and starring Wallace Beery as Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. The screenplay was written by Ben Hecht, adapted from the 1933 book '' Viva Villa!'' by Edgecumb Pinchon a ...

'' * Max Fabian in ''

All About Eve ''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does not receive a screen credit ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Besesti, Mario 1894 births 1968 deaths 20th-century Italian male actors Italian male voice actors Italian male film actors Italian male stage actors Male actors from Milan