Vico Torriani (September 21, 1920 in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

as Ludovico Oxens Torriani – February 25, 1998 in

Agno, Ticino Agno is a historic town and a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Due to its position on Lake Lugano it is popular with tourists, and hosts summer festivals, with two hotels and several camping grounds ...

) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

actor and '' Schlager'' singer.

Life

Born in

to a family of Lombard origin, Torriani grew up in St. Moritz where he trained as a cook and pastry chef, already making appearances as a singer. He later opened a restaurant in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

and wrote cookbooks. Having won a talent competition in 1945, he toured several West European countries and in 1949 entered the Swiss charts, followed by his breakthrough in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in 1951. The next year he made his debut on

Swiss television Schweizer Fernsehen (SF; "Swiss Television") is the German-language division of SRG SSR, in charge of production and distribution of television programmes in Switzerland for Linguistic geography of Switzerland, German-speaking Switzerland. It h ...

, later also on the German ARD broadcaster, where he hosted several TV shows with numerous guest stars. In the 1950s and 1960s he also acted as an actor of

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

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 and

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

. He competed to represent

Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1958 Germany was represented by Margot Hielscher, with the song '" Für zwei Groschen Musik", at the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 12 March in Hilversum, Netherlands. "Für zwei Groschen Musik" was chosen at the German national ...

but lost to

Margot Hielscher Margot Hielscher (29 September 1919 – 20 August 2017) was a German singer and film actress. She appeared in over fifty films between and 1939 and 1994. Hielscher was born in Berlin. In 1957, she was chosen to represent Germany at the Eurovis ...

. From 1967 he succeeded Lou van Burg hosting the TV show '' Der goldene Schuß'' on the West German

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

broadcaster until the production discontinued in 1970. In the 1970s he attained further success with ''Schlager'' and ''

Volkstümliche Musik Volkstümliche Musik (German for "folksy/traditional/popular music") is a modern popular derivation of the traditional ''Volksmusik'' genre of German-speaking regions. Though it is often marketed as ''Volksmusik'', it differs from traditional fo ...

'' songs. Torriani received a

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. ...

lifetime achievement award in 1995.

Selected filmography

* ''

My Wife Is Being Stupid ''My Wife Is Being Stupid'' or ''My Wife Is Acting Silly'' (german: Meine Frau macht Dummheiten) is a 1952 West German comedy film directed by Géza von Bolváry and starring Inge Egger, Hans Holt, and Marina Ried. It was made at the Göttingen ...

'' (1952) * ''

Street Serenade ''Street Serenade'' (german: Straßenserenade) is a 1953 West German musical film, musical comedy film directed by Werner Jacobs and starring Vico Torriani, Sybil Werden and Otto Gebühr. It was made at the Bavaria Studios in Munich. The film's ...

'' (1953) * ''

Guitars of Love ''Guitars of Love'' (german: Gitarren der Liebe) is a 1954 West German musical film directed by Werner Jacobs and starring Vico Torriani, Elma Karlowa and Harald Juhnke.MacKenzie p.176 It was shot at the Bavaria Studios in Munich. The film's sets ...

'' (1954) * ''

A Heart Full of Music ''A Heart Full of Music'' (German: ''Ein Herz voll Musik'') is a 1955 West German musical romantic comedy film directed by Robert A. Stemmle and starring Vico Torriani, Ina Halley and Ruth Stephan.Silberman & Wrage p.147 It was shot in Eastmancolo ...

'' (1955) * '' Santa Lucia'' (1956) * ''

The Tour Guide of Lisbon ''The Tour Guide of Lisbon'' (german: Der Fremdenführer von Lissabon) is a 1956 West German musical comedy film directed by Hans Deppe and starring Vico Torriani, Inge Egger, and Gunnar Möller. The film's sets were designed by the art director ...

'' (1956) * ''

The Star of Santa Clara ''The Star of Santa Clara'' (german: Der Stern von Santa Clara) is a 1958 West German musical comedy film directed by Werner Jacobs and starring Vico Torriani, Gerlinde Locker and Ruth Stephan.Koepnick p. 66 It was shot at the Spandau Studios i ...

'' (1958) * '' Robert and Bertram'' (1961) * ''

I Must Go to the City ''I Must Go to the City'' (german: Muss i denn zum Städtele hinaus) is a 1962 West German romance film directed by Hans Deppe and starring Vico Torriani, Barbara Frey and Monika Dahlberg.Bock & Bergfelder p.442 Its title is a reference to the ...

'' (1962)

External links

*
vicotorriani.ch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torriani, Vico 1920 births 1998 deaths Swiss male film actors 20th-century Swiss male singers German-language singers of Switzerland Actors from Geneva 20th-century Swiss male actors ZDF people Musicians from Geneva