Raimondo Vianello (7 May 1922 – 15 April 2010) was an Italian film actor,

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

, and

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...

. He was a well-known Italian

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

Biography

He was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, but spent his youth in

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...

, where his father, an

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

of the

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...

, directed the local naval academy. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he joined the

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...

, the fascist puppet state established in northern Italy after the Allied invasion of Italy. He was captured by American troops. In 1958 he met actress Sandra Mondaini, whom he married four years later, and with whom he frequently appeared in TV shows during his whole career. His first famous partner on the small screen was

Ugo Tognazzi Ugo Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter. Early life Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk fo ...

with whom, starting from 1954, he hosted the satyrical show ''Un due tre''; the show was halted in 1959 after the duo performed an ironical sketch about the then-president of the Republic,

Giovanni Gronchi Giovanni Gronchi, (; 10 September 1887 – 17 October 1978) was an Italian politician from Christian Democracy who served as the president of Italy from 1955 to 1962 and was marked by a controversial and failed attempt to bring about an "open ...

. Vianello then moved full-time to cinema, appearing in a total of 79 films between 1947 and 1968. In the 1970s he returned to

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 ...

(the Italian state broadcasting company, then the only one existing) with a series of Saturday shows which made him and Mondaini extremely popular as hosts and authors of sketches. During his TV career Vianello also hosted quiz shows, such as ''Zig Zag'' and ''Il gioco del 9'' on

Canale 5 Canale 5 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a s ...

; he also hosted the 1998 edition of the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual ...

and, from 1991 to 1999, ''Pressing'',

Mediaset Mediaset Italia S.p.A., also known as Mediaset, is an Italian-based mass media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE - MediaForEurope. Founded in 1987 by former ...

's Sunday night sports talk show. His best-known and long-lasting TV programme, '' Casa Vianello'', was a

sit-com A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

shot from 1988 to 2008 and broadcast by Mediaset channels

and later moved to

Rete 4 Rete 4 (in English Network 4) is an Italian free-to-air television channel operated by Mediaset Italia and owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. Presently the director is Sebastiano Lombardi. Programs TV Programmes (currently) Rete 4's strengt ...

, in which he and Mondaini played fictionalised versions of themselves. He died at the

San Raffaele Hospital The San Raffaele Hospital (also ''Istituto scientifico universitario San Raffaele'' or ''ospedale San Raffaele'', ''HSR'' or ''OSR'') is a university hospital situated in Segrate, the Province of Milan, Italy. It was founded in 1969 by don Luigi ...

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

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 ...

on 15 April 2010 at the age of 87. His wife Sandra Mondaini died on 21 September 2010, in San Raffaele hospital in Milan, 5 months after he died.

Selected filmography

* ''

Departure at Seven ''Departure at Seven'' (Italian: ''Partenza ore 7'') is a 1946 Italian musical comedy film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Chiaretta Gelli, Carlo Campanini and Laura Gore.Celli & Cottino-Jones p.68 The film's sets were designed by the ...

'' (1946) * ''

Fear and Sand ''Fear and Sand'' ( it, Fifa e arena) is a 1948 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Totò. Plot Nicolino is a kitchen boy who works in a small pharmacy in the country, run by a woman unbearably rude. So Nicolino really wan ...

'' (1948) * ''

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

'' (1951) * ''

Poppy A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, ''Papaver somniferum'', is the source of the narcotic drug opi ...

'' (1952) * ''

Laugh! Laugh! Laugh! ''Laugh! Laugh! Laugh!'' (Italian: ''Ridere! Ridere! Ridere!'') is a 1954 Italian comedy film directed by Edoardo Anton and starring Tino Scotti, Ugo Tognazzi and Carlo Dapporto. The film's sets were designed by the art director Beni Montresor. ...

'' (1954) * ''

My Wife's Enemy ''My Wife's Enemy'' ( it, Il nemico di mia moglie) is a 1959 Italian comedy film directed by Gianni Puccini. Cast * Marcello Mastroianni - Marco Tornabuoni * Giovanna Ralli - Luciana, sua moglie * Vittorio De Sica - Ottavio Terenzi, padre di Ma ...

'' (1959) * ''

Guardatele ma non toccatele ''Guardatele ma non toccatele'' is a 1959 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Ugo Tognazzi. Cast * Ugo Tognazzi - Maresciallo La Notte * Caprice Chantal - Rebecca O'Connor * Johnny Dorelli - Tenente Altieri * Lynn Shaw ...

'' (1959) * '' Sua Eccellenza si fermò a mangiare'' (1961) * ''

Hercules in the Valley of Woe ''Hercules in the Vale of Woe'' ( it, Maciste contro Ercole nella valle dei guai/ ''Maciste vs Hercules in the Valley of Woe''), a.k.a. ''Hercules in the Valley of Woe'', is a 1961 Italian Franco and Ciccio comedy film directed by Mario Mattoli ...

'' (1961) * '' Amore all'italiana'' (1965) * ''

I figli del leopardo ''I figli del leopardo'' (also known as ''Sons of the Leopard'') is a 1965 Italian comedy film directed by Sergio Corbucci starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio that is a parody of ''The Leopard''. Plot Sicily, 1860. The Baron Tulico is a pe ...

'' (1965) * ''

Il vostro super agente Flit ''Il vostro superagente Flit'' is a 1966 Italian Eurospy comedy that is a parody of ''Our Man Flint'' (''Il nostro agente Flint''). Starring Raimondo Vianello and Raffaella Carra, it was directed by Mariano Laurenti in his debut as a director and ...

'' (1966) * ''

For a Few Dollars Less ''For a Few Dollars Less'' ( it, Per qualche dollaro in meno) is a 1966 Italian comedy film, a parody of Sergio Leone's '' For a Few Dollars More'' (the second film of his Dollars Trilogy), directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Lando Buzzanca ...

'' (1966) * ''

Seven Times Seven ''Seven Times Seven'' ( it, Sette volte sette) is a 1968 Italian crime comedy caper directed by Michele Lupo and starring Gastone Moschin. Plot A gang of prison inmates escape and rob the UK's Royal Mint. They then sneak back to prison. Cast * ...

'' (1968)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vianello, Raimondo 1922 births 2010 deaths Italian male film actors Italian male comedians Italian television presenters Male actors from Rome People of Venetian descent People of Marchesan descent 20th-century Italian male actors 21st-century Italian male actors 20th-century Italian comedians 21st-century Italian comedians Deaths from kidney failure