Paolo Poli (May 23, 1929 – March 25, 2016) was an Italian theatre actor. He has also acted in films and on television.

Career

After a university degree in

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than Fr ...

, Poli began his acting career in the early 1950s and was one of the first actors in Italy to perform

en travesti En or EN may refer to: Businesses * Bouygues (stock symbol EN) * Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway (reporting mark EN, but now known as Southern Railway of Vancouver Island) * Euronews, a news television and internet channel Language and writing * ...

roles. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most versatile of Italian theatrical actors. He has acted in and directed a host of

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

s, among which ''Aldino mi cali un filino'', ''

Rita of Cascia Rita of Cascia, born Margherita Lotti (1381 – 22 May 1457), was an Italians, Italian widow and Augustinian nuns, Augustinian nun venerated as a List of Catholic saints, saint in the Roman Catholic Church. After Rita's husband died, she joine ...

'', ''

Caterina de Medici Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King H ...

'', ''L'asino d'oro'', ''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...

'', ''La leggenda di San Gregorio'', ''Il coturno della ciabatta'', and ''La nemica'' by Dario Niccodemi. His ''Rita of Cascia'' prompted complaints from Italian president

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was the president of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1992, and was close to the centre ...

. Well into his eighties, he continued performing on stage, most recently in ''Sillabari'' by

Goffredo Parise Goffredo Parise (8 December 1929 in Vicenza – 31 August 1986 in Treviso) was an Italian writer, journalist, and screenwriter. He won the Viareggio Prize in 1965 for his novel ''Il padrone'' ''(The Boss)'' and the Strega Prize in 1982 for ''S ...

and ''Aquiloni'', taken from

Giovanni Pascoli Giovanni Placido Agostino Pascoli (; 31 December 1855 – 6 April 1912) was an Italian poet, classical scholar and an emblematic figure of Italian literature in the late nineteenth century. Alongside Gabriele D'Annunzio, he was one of the great ...

Works

Theatre

*1958 - ''Finale di partita'' from

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

*1959 - ''Sorveglianza speciale'', from

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels ''The Thief's ...

*1960 - ''Mamma voglio il cerchio'' *1960 - ''Il novellino'', from Masuccio Salernitano *1962 - ''Il Diavolo'' *1963 - ''Paolo Paoli'', from

Arthur Adamov Arthur Adamov (23 August 1908 – 15 March 1970) was a playwright, one of the foremost exponents of the Theatre of the Absurd. Early life Adamov (originally Adamian) was born in Kislovodsk in the Terek Oblast of the Russian Empire to a wealthy A ...

*1964 - ''Il mondo d'acqua'', from Aldo Nicolaj *1964 - ''Il candelaio'', Paolo Poli and Ida Omboni, taken from

Giordano Bruno Giordano Bruno (; ; la, Iordanus Brunus Nolanus; born Filippo Bruno, January or February 1548 – 17 February 1600) was an Italian philosopher, mathematician, poet, cosmological theorist, and Hermetic occultist. He is known for his cosmologic ...

*1965 - ''Un Milione'' from

Sergio Tofano Sergio Tòfano (20 August 1886 – 28 October 1973) was an Italian actor, director, playwright, scene designer and illustrator. Tofano was born in Rome. In 1909, he made his first appearance on stage with Ermete Novelli, then joined Virgil ...

*1966 - ''Rita da Cascia'' *1967 - ''Il suggeritore nudo'', from

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti (; 22 December 1876 – 2 December 1944) was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement. He was associated with the utopian and Symbolist artistic and literary community Abbaye d ...

*1968 - ''La nemica'', from Dario Niccodemi *1968 - ''Brasile'', starring

Marco Messeri Marco Messeri (born 15 December 1948) is an Italian actor, comedian, stage director, singer-songwriter and voice actor. Life and career Born in Livorno, Messeri studied painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze and acting at the drama s ...

*1969 - ''Tito Andronico'', starring Marco Messeri *1969 - ''La rappresentazione di Giovanni e Paolo'' *1969 - ''Carolina Invernizio'' *1970 - ''La vispa Teresa'' *1971 - ''Soirée Satie'' *1971 - ''L'uomo nero'' *1972 - ''Giallo!!!'', Ida Omboni and Paolo Poli *1973 - ''Apocalisse'' *1975 - ''Femminilità'' *1976 - ''Rosmunda'', from

Vittorio Alfieri Count Vittorio Alfieri (, also , ; 16 January 17498 October 1803) was an Italian dramatist and poet, considered the "founder of Italian tragedy." He wrote nineteen tragedies, sonnets, satires, and a notable autobiography. Early life Alfieri was b ...

, starring Marco Messeri *1978 - ''Mezzacoda'' *1979 - ''Mistica'', taken from

Antonio Fogazzaro Antonio Fogazzaro (; 25 March 1842 – 7 March 1911) was an Italian novelist and proponent of Liberal Catholicism. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times. Biography Fogazzaro was born in Vicenza to a wealthy family. In ...

*1980 - ''Il Morino'', Bruno Carbocci, starring Marco Messeri *1981 - ''Paradosso'', from

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promine ...

Aldo Palazzeschi Aldo Palazzeschi (; 2 February 1885 – 17 August 1974) was the pen name of Aldo Giurlani, an Italian novelist, poet, journalist and essayist. Biography He was born in Florence to a well-off, bourgeois family. Following his father's direction, ...

and

Guido Gozzano Guido Gustavo Gozzano (19 December 1883 – 9 August 1916) was an Italian poet and writer. Biography He was born in Turin, the son of Fausto Gozzano, an engineer, and of Diodata Mautino, the daughter of Senator Mautino, patriot and supporter of ...

*1982 - ''Bus'', taken from ''Esercizi di stile'' from

Raymond Queneau Raymond Queneau (; 21 February 1903 – 25 October 1976) was a French novelist, poet, critic, editor and co-founder and president of Oulipo ('' Ouvroir de littérature potentielle''), notable for his wit and cynical humour. Biography Queneau wa ...

*1983 - ''Magnificat'' *1985 - ''Cane e gatto'', from

Tommaso Landolfi Tommaso Landolfi (9 August 1908 – 8 July 1979) was an Italian writer, translator and literary critic. His numerous grotesque tales and novels, sometimes on the border of speculative fiction, science fiction and Realism (arts), realism, place hi ...

Riccardo Bacchelli Riccardo Bacchelli (; 19 April 1891 – 8 October 1985) was an Italian writer. In 1927 he was one of the founders of the review ''La Ronda'' and Bagutta Prize for literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature eight times. Caree ...

and

Alberto Moravia Alberto Moravia ( , ; born Alberto Pincherle ; 28 November 1907 – 26 September 1990) was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism. Moravia is best known for his d ...

*1986 - ''Farfalle'', from

*1988 - ''I legami pericolosi'', from

Choderlos de Laclos Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos (; 18 October 1741 – 5 September 1803) was a French novelist, official, Freemason and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel ''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (''Dangerous Liaisons'' ...

, starring

Milena Vukotic Milena Vukotic (, ; born 23 April 1935) is an Italian former ballerina and a stage, television, and film actress. Biography Vukotic was born in Rome, to a Serb Montenegrin comedy playwright father and an Italian pianist/composer mother. A ...

*1990 - ''Il coturno e la ciabatta'', from

Alberto Savinio Alberto Savinio , born as Andrea Francesco Alberto de Chirico (25 August 1891 – 5 May 1952) was a Greek-Italian writer, painter, musician, journalist, essayist, playwright, set designer and composer. He was the younger brother of 'metaphysical ...

*1992 - ''La leggenda di San Gregorio'', from

Hartmann von Aue Hartmann von Aue, also known as Hartmann von Ouwe, (born ''c.'' 1160–70, died ''c.'' 1210–20) was a German knight and poet. With his works including ''Erec'', '' Iwein'', ''Gregorius'', and ''Der arme Heinrich'', he introduced the Arthurian ...

*1994 - ''L'asino d'oro'', from

Apuleius Apuleius (; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis; c. 124 – after 170) was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He lived in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern-day ...

*1997 - ''I viaggi di Gulliver'' (''

''), from

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

starring Pino Strabioli *1999 - ''

'', taken from '' La Reine Margot'',

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

*2000 - ''Il tranello di Medusa'', from

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...

*2001 - ''Aldino mi cali un filino'', d'

*2002 - ''Jacques il fatalista'' (''

Jacques le fataliste et son maître ''Jacques the Fatalist and his Master'' (french: Jacques le fataliste et son maître) is a novel by Denis Diderot, written during the period 1765–1780. The first French edition was published posthumously in 1796, but it was known earlier in Germ ...

''), de

*2004 - ''Il ponte di San Luis Rey'', from

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' — a ...

*2006 - ''Sei brillanti'', from Mura (Maria Volpi Nannipieri), Paola Masino, Irene Brin, Camilla Cederna, Natalia Aspesi and Elena Gianini Belotti *2007 - ''Favole'', from

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...

and

Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (; 26 April 17118 September 1780) was a French novelist who wrote the best known version of ''Beauty and the Beast''. Her third husband was the French spy Thomas Pichon (1757–1760). Life and work Christened Ma ...

*2008 - ''Sillabari'', from

*2010 - ''Il Mare'', from Anna Maria Ortese http://www.ecoditorino.org/il-mare-di-paolo-poli-al-teatro-carignano-27-dicembre--8-gennaio.htm ''Il mare di Paolo Poli al Teatro Carignano '' *2012 - ''Aquiloni'', taken from

Television

* ''Souper'', director Vito Molinari, 1960 * ''Tutto da rifare pover'uomo'',

telefilm A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

director Eros Macchi, 1960 * ''Ricordati di Cesare'', starring Dory Dorika, Elsa Merlini,

Aldo Silvani Aldo Silvani (21 January 1891 – 12 November 1964) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1934 and 1964. He was born in Turin, Italy and died in Milan, Italy. Selected filmography * ''Cardinal Lambertini'' ...

, Federico Collino, Paolo Poli, Mila Sannoner, director Alessandro Brissoni, 1962 * ''Champignol senza volerlo'', director Silverio Blasi, 1963 * ''Gli equivici di una notte'', form

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...

, director Edmo Fenoglio, 1964 * ''Chi non-prova non-ci crede'', director Carlo Di Stefano, 1968 * ''Il Re non-fa per me'', director de Massimo Scaglione en 1969 * ''Babau 70'', variety of Ida Omboni and Paolo Poli, director Vito Molinari; 1970, stopped from

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

and acted in 1976 only, starring

, Laura Betti,

Adriana Asti Adriana Asti (born 30 April 1931) is an Italian stage, film, and voice actress. Biography On stage, she starred in ''Saint Joan'' by George Bernard Shaw, ''Happy Days'' by Samuel Beckett, ''The Mistress of the Inn'' by Carlo Goldoni, and ''Three ...

, Camilla Cederna,

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...

Fabrizio De André Fabrizio Cristiano De André (; 18 February 1940 – 11 January 1999) was an Italian singer-songwriter, the most prominent ''cantautore'' of his time. His 40-year career reflects his interests in concept albums, literature, poetry, political pro ...

* ''Al Cavallino Bianco'',

, 1974 * ''La strana storia del dottor White e del signor Black'', mini-telefilm, director Norman Mozzato en 1975 * ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

'' mini-telefilm; director Sandro Sequi, 1976, starring

Lucia Poli Lucia Poli (born 14 June 1940), is an Italian actress, playwright and stage director. Life and career Born in Florence, the sister of the actor Paolo, Poli began her career in 1970 with the children's theater. In the mid-1970s she formed her o ...

and

* Scene ''La Crisalide'' from the mini-telefilm ''Racconti di fantascienza'', director

Alessandro Blasetti Alessandro Blasetti (3 July 1900 – 1 February 1987) was an Italian film director and screenwriter who influenced Italian neorealism with the film ''Quattro passi fra le nuvole''. Blasetti was one of the leading figures in Italian cinema during ...

, 1979.

Filmography

* '' The Two Orphans'' (1954, director

Giacomo Gentilomo Giacomo Gentilomo (5 April 1909 – 16 April 2001) was an Italian film director and painter. Biography Born in Trieste, at very young age Gentilomo moved to Rome, where at 21 years old he entered the cinema industry, working as a script survivo ...

) - Pierre Frochard * ''

The Lovers of Manon Lescaut ''The Lovers of Manon Lescaut'' (Italian: ''Gli amori di Manon Lescaut'') is a 1954 French-Italian historical melodrama film directed by Mario Costa and starring Myriam Bru, Franco Interlenghi and Roger Pigaut.Goble p.375 It is based on the 1731 n ...

'' (1954, director Mario Costa) - Tiberge * ''Non c'è amore più grande'' (1955, director Giorgio Bianchi) * ''Camping'' (1958, director

Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...

) * ''Cronache del '22'', scene ''Giorno di paga'' (1961, director Guidarino Guidi) * ''Per amore... per magia...'' (1967, director

Duccio Tessari Duccio Tessari (11 October 1926 – 6 September 1994) was an Italian director, screenwriter and actor, considered one of the fathers of Spaghetti Westerns. Born in Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian re ...

) - Jo Babà * ''H2S'' (1969, director

Roberto Faenza Roberto Faenza (born 21 February 1943) is an Italian film director. Born in Turin in 1943, Faenza received a degree in Political Science and a diploma at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. Career Faenza made his directing debut in 1968 ...

) - Anna Mazzamauro * ''L'asino d'oro: processo per fatti strani contro Lucius Apoleuus cittadino romano'' (1970, director Sergio Spina) - Genesio * ''La piazza vuota'' (1971, director Beppe Recchia) * ''Le braghe del padrone'' (1978, director Flavio Mogherini) - Il diavolo

Books

* Ida Omboni and Paolo Poli, ''Rita da Cascia'', Milano Libri,

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

1967. * Ida Omboni and Paolo Poli, ''Carolina Invernizio'', Milano Libri,

1970. * Paolo Poli, ''Telefoni bianchi e camicie nere'' (with pièces' text ''L'uomo nero'' et ''Femminilità'' de Ida Omboni et Paolo Poli), Garzanti,

1975. * Ida Omboni and Paolo Poli, ''Giallo!'',

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 1 ...

, Milan 1977. * Ida Omboni and Paolo Poli, ''Mistica...'', Editori del Grifo,

Montepulciano Montepulciano () is a medieval and Renaissance hill town and ''comune'' in the Italian province of Siena in southern Tuscany. It sits high on a limestone ridge, east of Pienza, southeast of Siena, southeast of Florence, and north of Rome b ...

1980. * Ida Omboni and Paolo Poli, ''Giuseppe Giuseppe! - filastroccario verdiano'', Editori del Grifo,

1981.

Bibliography

* Rodolfo di Gianmarco, ''Paolo Poli'', Gremese Editore, Rome, 1985. * Andrea Pini, ''Paolo Poli. L’amore gay nell’Italia del dopoguerra fino a oggi'', ''Pride (Revue)'' n. 66, December 2004. * Eva Marinai, ''Gobbi, dritti e la satira molesta. Copioni di voci, immagini di scena (1951-1967)'', ETS,

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

2007. * Andrea Jelardi, ''Queer Tv-omosessualità e trasgressione nella tv italiana'', introduction of Carlo Freccero, Croce, Rome, 2006. * Interview to Paolo Poli (Gianluca Meis writer) page about Poli in: Andrea Jelardi, ''In scena en travesti-Il Travestitismo nello spettacolo italiano'', Croce, Rome, 2009. * Paolo Poli, ''Siamo tutte delle gran bugiarde. Conversazioni con Giovanni Pannacci'', Giulio Perrone Editore, Rome, 2009, * Il Radiocorriere, different years

Gallery

Image:PAOLO.POLI.JPG, Paolo Poli after the piece ''Sei Brillanti'', at Teatro Carcano,

, 2007. Image:Paolo poli in milan.jpg, Paolo Poli, at ''Teatro dell'Elfo'' in

, January 2013.

References

External links

* *
Poliscena Association: Paolo Poli's Theatre
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poli, Paolo 1929 births 2016 deaths Italian male film actors Actors from Florence Italian male stage actors Italian male television actors