Totò was born Antonio Clemente in a poor district of Naples, the illegitimate son of Anna Clemente from Sicily and Marquis Giuseppe De Curtis from Naples. Nicknamed “il principe della risata’ (the prince of laughter), he was an Italian comedian, film and theatre actor, writer, singer and songwriter, and widely considered one of the greatest Italian artists of the 20th century. While he first gained his popularity as a comic actor, his dramatic roles, poetry, and songs are all of cultural import; his style and a number of his recurring jokes and gestures have become universally known memes in Italy.
Totò was born Antonio Clemente in a poor district of Naples, the illegitimate son of Anna Clemente from Sicily and Marquis Giuseppe De Curtis from Naples. Nicknamed “il principe della risata’ (the prince of laughter), he was an Italian comedian, film and theatre actor, writer, singer and songwriter, and widely considered one of the greatest Italian artists of the 20th century. While he first gained his popularity as a comic actor, his dramatic roles, poetry, and songs are all of cultural import; his style and a number of his recurring jokes and gestures have become universally known memes in Italy.
As a comic actor, Totò is classified as an heir of the Commedia dell'Arte tradition, and has been compared to such figures as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. At the age of 15, he was already acting as a comedian in small theatres, under the pseudonym "Clerment". His early repertoire mostly consisted in imitations of Gustavo De Marco's characters. He served in the army during World War I and then went back to acting to develop the trademarks of his style.
In 1937, he appeared in his first movie "Fermo con le mani", and later starred in 96 more films, many of which are still frequently broadcast on Italian television. In his vast cinematographic career, Totò had the opportunity to act side by side with virtually all major Italian actors of the time. Totò's unmistakable figure, with his peculiarly irregular face (due to an accident in his teen years), and his unique trademark ability to disarticulate his body like a marionette, soon became very popular and his comic gags became part of the Italian culture. Totò died at the age of 69 in Rome after a series of heart attacks. Due to overwhelming popularity there were three funeral services: the first in Rome, and the second and third in Naples. Totò's birth home has been recently opened to the public as a museum.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0869451
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2291
Facebook: No data
Instagram: No data
X: No data
Filmography (Movies)
Totò e il Principe De Curtis - L'uomo oltre la maschera
Character:Se stesso
Release Date:05/10/2023
We Are Cinema
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:16/12/2021
Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:16/05/2021
Siamo tutti Alberto Sordi?
Character:Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Release Date:12/04/2020
Naples '44
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:15/12/2016
How We Got the Italian Movie Business Into Trouble: The True Story of Franco and Ciccio
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:24/09/2004
SuperTotò
Character:
Release Date:18/04/1980
Antologia di Totò
Character:Totò (se stesso)
Release Date:01/01/1978
Un sorriso, uno schiaffo, un bacio in bocca
Character:(archive footage)
Release Date:14/07/1975
Caprice Italian Style
Character:Anziano Signore / Iago
Release Date:13/04/1968
What Are the Clouds?
Character:Iago
Release Date:12/04/1968
Totò Story
Character:
Release Date:01/01/1968
Tutto Totò - Il tuttofare
Character:
Release Date:28/06/1967
Tutto Totò - Totò a Napoli
Character:Totò, la guida non autorizzata
Release Date:12/06/1967
Tutto Totò - Totò Ciak
Character:Totò l'agente segreto
Release Date:07/06/1967
Tutto Totò - Totò Ye Ye
Character:musicista capellone
Release Date:31/05/1967
Il latitante
Character:Gennaro La Pezza
Release Date:04/05/1967
Tutto Totò - Il grande maestro
Character:Mardoccheo Stonatelli
Release Date:10/04/1967
The Witches
Character:Ciancicato Miao (segment "La Terra vista dalla Luna")
Release Date:22/02/1967
The Earth As Seen from the Moon
Character:Ciancicato Miao
Release Date:22/02/1967
Tutto Totò - La scommessa
Character:Oberdan Lo Cascio
Release Date:31/01/1967
Tutto Totò - Don Giovannino
Character:Barnaba Parmiggiani aka 'Babà'
Release Date:01/01/1967
Tutto Totò - Premio Nobel
Character:il professor Serafino Bolletta
Release Date:01/01/1967
The Treasure of San Gennaro
Character:Don Vincenzo
Release Date:25/11/1966
The Hawks and the Sparrows
Character:Totò Innocenti / Frate Cicillo
Release Date:04/05/1966
Rita the American Girl
Character:Serafino Benvenuti
Release Date:02/12/1965
The Mandrake
Character:il frate
Release Date:18/11/1965
Latin Lovers
Character:Rag. Antonio Gargiulo (ep. Amore e morte)
Release Date:11/08/1965
Totò d'Arabia
Character:Totò
Release Date:18/02/1965
Beautiful Families
Character:Filiberto Comanducci
Release Date:26/12/1964
What Ever Happened to Baby Toto?
Character:Totò Baby / il Padre
Release Date:21/08/1964
Laughs Italian Style
Character:
Release Date:15/07/1964
Totò versus the Black Pirate
Character:Josè
Release Date:27/03/1964
The Commandant
Character:Col. Antonio Cavalli
Release Date:23/12/1963
Gli onorevoli
Character:Antonio La Trippa
Release Date:10/10/1963
Toto and Cleopatra
Character:Marc'Antonio / Totonno
Release Date:05/09/1963
Totò Sexy
Character:Nini Cantachiaro
Release Date:05/09/1963
Le motorizzate
Character:Urbano Cacace (segment "Il Vigile Ignoto")
Release Date:15/08/1963
The Monk of Monza
Character:Pasquale Cicciacalda / Don Manuel
Release Date:29/03/1963
Totò vs the Four
Character:commissario Antonio Saracino
Release Date:07/03/1963
The Shortest Day
Character:frate bersagliere
Release Date:14/02/1963
Two Colonels
Character:Colonnello Di Maggio
Release Date:05/01/1963
Toto at Night
Character:Nini
Release Date:25/10/1962
Totò e Peppino divisi a Berlino
Character:Antonio La Puzza / Amministratore di Canarinis
Release Date:08/09/1962
Lo smemorato di Collegno
Character:lo smemorato
Release Date:07/09/1962
Totò diabolicus
Character:Galeazzo / Carlo / Scipione / Antonio / Laudomia / Pasquale
Release Date:07/04/1962
Totò versus Maciste
Character:Totokamen
Release Date:28/02/1962
The Two Marshals
Character:Antonio Capurro
Release Date:22/12/1961
Totòtruffa '62
Character:Antonio LoRuffo
Release Date:12/08/1961
Sua Eccellenza si fermò a mangiare
Character:Dott. Biagio Tanzarella
Release Date:30/03/1961
Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life
Character:Antonio Barbacane
Release Date:23/03/1961
He Who Hesitates Is Lost
Character:Antonio Guardalavecchia
Release Date:15/12/1960
The Passionate Thief
Character:Umberto 'Infortunio' Pennazzuto
Release Date:21/10/1960
Letto a tre piazze
Character:Antonio Di Cosimo
Release Date:09/09/1960
Toto, Fabrizi and the Young People Today
Character:Cavalier Antonio Cocozza
Release Date:18/08/1960
Signori si nasce
Character:Ottone Degli Ulivi, detto Zazà
Release Date:28/04/1960
Noi duri
Character:L'Algerino
Release Date:24/02/1960
La cambiale
Character:Cesare Posalaquaglia
Release Date:19/11/1959
You're on Your Own
Character:Il nonno illuminato
Release Date:04/09/1959
The Thieves
Character:Commissario Di Savio
Release Date:27/06/1959
The Overtaxed
Character:Torquato Pezzella
Release Date:10/04/1959
Toto in Madrid
Character:Totò Scorceletti
Release Date:06/02/1959
Totò in the Moon
Character:Pasquale Belafronte
Release Date:28/11/1958
Toto in Paris
Character:Marchese Gastone de Chemantel / Chateau-Boiron / il vagabondo Totò
Release Date:23/10/1958
The Law Is the Law
Character:Giuseppe La Paglia
Release Date:17/09/1958
Legs of Gold
Character:Barone Luigi Fontana
Release Date:27/08/1958
Totò, Peppino e le fanatiche
Character:Antonio Vignarello
Release Date:22/08/1958
Big Deal on Madonna Street
Character:Dante Cruciani
Release Date:26/07/1958
Toto and Marcellino
Character:Il Professore
Release Date:22/04/1958
Totò, Vittorio and the Doctor
Character:Michele Spillone detto Mike
Release Date:23/12/1957
Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge
Character:Antonio
Release Date:21/12/1956
Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy
Character:Antonio Caponi
Release Date:23/08/1956
Totò Double or Nothing?
Character:Duca Gagliardo della Forcoletta
Release Date:03/05/1956
The Band of Honest Men
Character:Antonio Buonocore
Release Date:12/04/1956
Il coraggio
Character:Gennaro Vaccariello
Release Date:24/12/1955
Roman Tales
Character:Professor Semprini
Release Date:21/12/1955
Destinazione Piovarolo
Character:Antonio La Quaglia
Release Date:16/12/1955
Are We Men or Corporals?
Character:Totò Esposito
Release Date:26/08/1955
Totò all'inferno
Character:Antonio Marchi
Release Date:16/03/1955
Toto and Carolina
Character:Antonio Caccavallo
Release Date:02/03/1955
Variety carousel
Character:
Release Date:08/02/1955
Totò Seeks Peace
Character:Gennaro Piselli
Release Date:17/12/1954
The Gold of Naples
Character:Don Saverio Petrillo (segment "Il guappo")
Release Date:03/12/1954
Il medico dei pazzi
Character:Felice Sciosciammocca
Release Date:19/10/1954
The Three Thieves
Character:Tapioca
Release Date:27/09/1954
Poverty and Nobility
Character:Don Felice Sciosciammocca
Release Date:17/04/1954
The Anatomy of Love
Character:Dionillo
Release Date:16/03/1954
Where Is Freedom?
Character:Salvatore Lojacono
Release Date:05/03/1954
Of Life and Love
Character:Rosario Chiarchiaro
Release Date:03/02/1954
Funniest Show on Earth
Character:Tottons
Release Date:12/11/1953
Una di quelle
Character:Rocco Bardelli
Release Date:08/10/1953
Neapolitan Turk
Character:Felice Sciosciammocca
Release Date:16/09/1953
Man, Beast and Virtue
Character:Prof. Paolino
Release Date:09/05/1953
Toto and the Women
Character:Antonio Scaparro
Release Date:20/12/1952
Toto and the Kings of Rome
Character:Ercole Pappalardo
Release Date:15/10/1952
Totó in color
Character:Antonio Scannagatti
Release Date:08/04/1952
Cops and Robbers
Character:Ferdinando Esposito
Release Date:29/11/1951
Seven Hours of Troubles
Character:Totò De Pasquale
Release Date:17/10/1951
Toto the Third Man
Character:Piero / Paolo / Totò
Release Date:23/09/1951
47 Talking Corpses
Character:Il barone Antonio Peletti
Release Date:22/12/1950
Toto the Sheik
Character:Antonio Sapone
Release Date:30/11/1950
Le sei mogli di Barbablù
Character:Totò Esposito
Release Date:10/11/1950
Tototarzan
Character:Antonio Della Buffas
Release Date:31/10/1950
Figaro qua... Figaro là
Character:Figaro
Release Date:12/10/1950
Side Street Story
Character:Pasquale Miele
Release Date:21/09/1950
Totò Looking for Wife
Character:Totò
Release Date:15/03/1950
Totò le Mokò
Character:Antonio Lumaconi / Totò le Moko
Release Date:20/12/1949
The Emperor of Capri
Character:Antonio De Fazio
Release Date:16/12/1949
Totò Looking for a House
Character:Beniamino Lomacchio
Release Date:09/12/1949
Yvonne of the Night
Character:Nino, il fantasista
Release Date:24/11/1949
The Firemen of Viggiù
Character:Totò
Release Date:16/04/1949
Toto Tours Italy
Character:Prof. Totò Casamandrei
Release Date:30/12/1948
Fifa e arena
Character:Nicolino Capece
Release Date:23/11/1948
Two Little Orphans
Character:Gasparre
Release Date:26/11/1947
Slave Girl
Character:Gobbone il cammello (narratore)
Release Date:17/07/1947
The Rape of the Sabine
Character:Aristide Tromboni
Release Date:21/11/1945
Totò nella fossa dei leoni
Character:Totò
Release Date:31/05/1943
L'allegro fantasma
Character:Nicolino & Gelsomino & Antonino
Release Date:16/03/1941
San Giovanni decollato
Character:Mastro Agostino Miciacio
Release Date:12/12/1940
Animal Crackers
Character:Barone Tolomeo dei Tolomei
Release Date:01/04/1939
Hands Off Me!
Character:Conte Toto di Torretota
Release Date:06/03/1937
Television Appearances
Images
