Rodolfo Gucci (16 July 1912 – 15 May 1983), also known by his stage name Maurizio D'Ancora, was an Italian actor and entrepreneur, who appeared in more than 40 films between 1929 and 1946. He was a member of the
Gucci family. His only child,
Maurizio Gucci
Maurizio Gucci (26 September 1948 – 27 March 1995) was an Italian businessman and the one-time head of the Gucci fashion house. He was the son of actor Rodolfo Gucci, and grandson of the company's founder Guccio Gucci. On 27 March 1995, he wa ...
, was named after his stage name.
Biography
Rodolfo Gucci was born in 1912 in Florence, Italy to Aida Calvelli and
Guccio Gucci
Guccio Giovanbattista Giacinto Dario Maria Gucci (26 March 1881 – 2 January 1953) was an Italian businessman and fashion designer. He is known for being the founder of the fashion house Gucci.
Early life
Guccio Gucci was born in Florence, Tu ...
.
He was one of five sons and one daughter.
He was spotted by the director
Alfred Lind
Søren Estrup Alfred Lind (27 March 1879 – 29 April 1959) was a Danish cinematographer, screenwriter, and film director of the silent era. Lind was a prominent director in early Scandinavian cinema, and also worked in the German film industry. ...
who gave him his film debut in 1929. The same year he appeared in
Mario Camerini
Mario Camerini (6 February 1895 – 4 February 1981) was an Italian film director and screenwriter.
The cousin of Augusto Genina, he made the most well-known films in Italy during the 1930s, most of them comedies starring Vittorio De Sica. H ...
's ''
Rails
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' ( ...
'', which launched his career. He used Maurizio D'Ancora as his screen name. While filming ''
Together in the Dark
''Together in the Dark'' (Italian: ''Al buio insieme'') is a 1933 Italian comedy film directed by Gennaro Righelli and starring Sandra Ravel, Maurizio D'Ancora and Lamberto Picasso.Mancini p.216
The film's sets were designed by the art director Ga ...
'', he met his future wife.
He was married in 1944 in Venice, Italy to the actress
Sandra Ravel
Sandra Ravel (16 January 1910 – 13 August 1954) was an Italian film actress of the 1930s.
Biography
She was born as Alessandra Winkelhauser Ratti in Milan, Italy in 1910 to a German father who was a chemical plant worker, and a Swiss mother ...
.
Their only child was born in 1948, Maurizio, named after his father's stage name.
Member of the Gucci Family
He was one of the five sons of
Guccio Gucci
Guccio Giovanbattista Giacinto Dario Maria Gucci (26 March 1881 – 2 January 1953) was an Italian businessman and fashion designer. He is known for being the founder of the fashion house Gucci.
Early life
Guccio Gucci was born in Florence, Tu ...
, founder of the
eponymous fashion house. In January 1953, D'Ancora left acting and returned to the family business after the death of his father.
In 1952, Rodolfo and his brothers Aldo and Vasco traveled to New York City.
They opened the first Gucci store outside of Italy in New York City, only two weeks before their father's death.
In 1967, he created the Gucci ''Flora scarf'' for
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956.
Kelly ...
.
After their brother Vasco Gucci died in 1974, Rodolfo and Aldo divided the business among themselves 50/50.
However, Aldo's sons felt that Rodolfo had not contributed enough to the growth of the business.
In an attempt to increase his profits, Aldo set up a perfume
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
and held 80 percent of its ownership for himself and his three sons.
This rivalry eventually spiralled into family warfare.
Death and legacy
Rodolfo Gucci died in 1983 in Milan. After his death, his son
Maurizio Gucci
Maurizio Gucci (26 September 1948 – 27 March 1995) was an Italian businessman and the one-time head of the Gucci fashion house. He was the son of actor Rodolfo Gucci, and grandson of the company's founder Guccio Gucci. On 27 March 1995, he wa ...
inherited his majority stake in the company and became the majority shareholder. After a nearly six-year legal battle for control over Gucci against
Aldo Gucci
Aldo Gucci (26 May 1905 – 19 January 1990) was an Italian personality and the chairman of Gucci from 1953 to 1986. He was the eldest son of Guccio Gucci, who founded the company bearing the family name in 1921.
Early life and family
Aldo G ...
, in 1989 Maurizio Gucci was made chairman of the Gucci group. Maurizio did not have a background in business, and by 1993 the business was in dire economic and creative straits.
That year Maurizio Gucci resigned and sold his remaining interest to
Investcorp
Investcorp is a global manager of alternative investment products, for private and institutional clients. Founded in Bahrain in 1982, the firm has offices in United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, India, China, ...
, ending the Gucci family's association with the company.
In 1995, Maurizio Gucci was gunned down by a hired
hit man
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may ...
. In 1998, his ex-wife
Patrizia Reggiani
Patrizia Reggiani (; Martinelli; born 2 December 1948) is an Italian convicted criminal and former socialite. She was convicted in a highly publicized trial of hiring a hitman to kill her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci.
Early life and marriage t ...
was convicted of arranging the killing.
In popular culture
In the film ''
House of Gucci
''House of Gucci'' is a 2021 American biographical crime drama film directed by Ridley Scott, based on the 2001 book ''The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed'' by Sara Gay Forden. The film follows Patri ...
'' (2021), Rodolfo Gucci is played by English actor
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...
.
Filmography
References
Further reading
* Landy, Marcia. ''The Folklore of Consensus: Theatricality in the Italian Cinema, 1930–1943''. SUNY Press, 1998.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Ancora, Maurizio
1912 births
1983 deaths
Italian male film actors
Actors from Florence
20th-century Italian male actors
Gucci people
Businesspeople from Florence