Paolo Piffarerio (August 27, 1924 – June 30, 2015) was an Italian comics artist and animator.

Biography

Born in

Recanati Recanati () is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Macerata, in the Marche region of Italy. Recanati was founded around 1150 AD from three pre-existing castles. In 1290 it proclaimed itself an independent republic and, in the 15th century, ...

, the son of a

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary great ...

and a seamstress, Piffarerio studied at the

Brera Academy The Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera ("academy of fine arts of Brera"), also known as the or Brera Academy, is a state-run tertiary public academy of fine arts in Milan, Italy. It shares its history, and its main building, with the Pinacoteca di ...

, where he met

Gino Gavioli Gino Gavioli (9 May 1923 – 19 November 2016) was an Italian comic artist, animator and comic writer. Biography Born in Milan, after graduating from the Brera Academy Gavioli debuted illustrating some comic series for the publisher Alberto Train ...

. In 1953 Gavioli and Piffarerio founded "Gamma Film", a pioneering company in the field of animation in Italy. Piffarerio realized several animation shorts for the TV show

Carosello ''Carosello'' () was an Italian television advertising show broadcast on RAI from 1957 to 1977. The series mainly showed short sketch comedy films using live action, various types of animation, and puppetry. It had an audience of about 20 milli ...

, as well as ''The Long Green Sock'' ( it, La lunga calza verde), a 1961 film about the history of Italy scripted by

Cesare Zavattini Cesare Zavattini (20 September 1902 – 13 October 1989) was an Italian screenwriter and one of the first theorists and proponents of the Neorealist movement in Italian cinema. Biography Born in Luzzara near Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, o ...

. Piffarerio's first comic character, Capitan Falco, was created in 1943. He collaborated with writer

Max Bunker Max Bunker, pen name of Luciano Massimiliano Secchi (born 24 August 1939), is an Italian comic book writer, and publisher, best known as the co-author of '' Alan Ford''. Bunker's career started in 1960 when he co-founded, together with his brothe ...

on a number of comics series, including ''Viva l'Italia'' (1961), ''Maschera Nera'' (1963), ''El Gringo'' (1965) and '' Alan Ford'', where he pencilled about one hundred issues between 1975 and 1984. Piffarerio also collaborated with journalist and writer

Enzo Biagi Enzo Biagi (; 9 August 1920 – 6 November 2007) was an Italian journalist, writer and former partisan. Life and career Biagi was born in Lizzano in Belvedere, and began his career as a journalist in Bologna. In 1952, he worked on the screenpla ...

for his book series ''La storia d'Italia a fumetti'', and was the author of a number of comics adaptations of novels and historical biographies for ''

Il Giornalino ''Il Giornalino'' is an Italian comics magazine published in Italy. History and profile ''Il Giornalino'' was founded by the Catholic publisher Edizioni San Paolo of Alba in 1924. During its history, the magazine has published the Italian tra ...

''.

References

Italian comics artists Italian animators Italian animated film directors Italian animated film producers 1924 births 2015 deaths People from Recanati Brera Academy alumni {{Europe-comics-creator-stub