Eduardo Scarpetta (13 March 1853 – 12 November 1925) was an Italian actor and playwright from
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
.
Biography
Although not from a theatrical family, he was on the stage by the age of four and is today best remembered as the creator of a character that became his stage alter-ego: Felice Sciosciammocca, a typical, good-natured Neapolitan. The name "Sciosciammocca" translates from
Neapolitan
Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to:
Geography and history
* Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city
* Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...
as "breath in mouth"—thus, with "Felice" (Happy) the name conveys something like wide-eyed and perhaps a bit scatter-brained. The character was a break with the traditional portrayal of the Neapolitan streetwise Everyman and, as an implied stereotype, invites comparison to the well-known, darker historical Neapolitan "mask" of
Pulcinella
Pulcinella (; nap, Pulecenella) is a classical character that originated in of the 17th century and became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry. Pulcinella's versatility in status and attitude has captivated audiences worldwide and kept t ...
. The character appears prominently in Scarpetta's best-known work, ''Miseria e Nobiltà'' (Misery and Nobility) from the year 1888. The work is well known, too, as a 1954 film featuring Neapolitan comic
Totò
Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi de Curtis di Bisanzio (15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967), best known by his stage name Totò (), or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed ''il Principe della risata ...
as Felice Sciosciammocca; the film also features a young
Sophia Loren
Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...
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Scarpetta dedicated much of his early activity to translating into Neapolitan the standard Parisian farce comedy of the day, such as Hennequin, Meilhac, Labiche and Feydeau. His own original comedies comprise some 50 works. He was the illegitimate father of actor and playwright
Eduardo De Filippo
Eduardo De Filippo (; 24 May 1900 – 31 October 1984), also known simply as ''Eduardo'', was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter and playwright, best known for his Neapolitan works ''Filumena Marturano'' and '' Napoli Milionaria''. Consid ...
as well as of Eduardo's brother and sister, Peppino and Titina. He was also a mentor to the actor Gennaro Pantalena who appeared as part of his company.
In 2021, director
Mario Martone
Mario Martone (born 20 November 1959) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He has directed more than 30 films since 1985. His film '' L'amore molesto'' was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. His 2010 film ''Noi credevamo'' c ...
realized a movie based on the last period of Scarpetta's career, titled ''
Qui rido io
''The King of Laughter'' ( it, Qui rido io, lit= Here I laugh) is a 2021 Italian-Spanish biographical drama film directed by Mario Martone about actor and playwright Eduardo Scarpetta's legal battle against Gabriele D'Annunzio over his parody ...
'' (Here I'm the one who laughs, after the inscription on Scarpetta's mansion), and it had its world premiere in competition at the
78th Venice International Film Festival
The 78th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 1 to 11 September 2021. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho was appointed as the President of the Jury, marking the first time a South Korean director has been picked as the festiv ...
; the role was played by
Toni Servillo
Marco Antonio Servillo (), known as Toni Servillo, is an Italian actor and theatrical director.
He has won the European Film Award for Best Actor twice, in 2008 for both '' Gomorrah'' and ''Il Divo'' and in 2013 for ''The Great Beauty'', as wel ...
Alfred Hennequin
Alfred Néoclès Hennequin (13 January 1842 – 7 August 1887) was a Belgian playwright, best known for his farces. Born in Liège, Hennequin was trained there as an engineer, and was employed by the national railway company. In his spare time he w ...
e
Émile de Najac
Comte Émile de Najac (December 1828 – 11 April 1889) was a French librettist. He was a prolific writer during the Second Empire and early part of the Third Republic, supplying plays and opéra comique librettos, many in one act.
Biography
É ...