L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2023 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 2 G iancarlo Gian- n i n i s a y s i t unequivocally: a H o l l y w o o d star is far more v a l u a b l e t h a n a n O s c a r . Everyone in the film industry strives for the prized statuette and dreams of holding it on the Dolby Theatre stage. But in the end, says the 80-year- old actor, dubber, and direc- tor, the Oscar only rewards you for one film. Having your name engraved on the Walk of Fame, on the other hand, awards you for your whole arti- stic career, encompassing all of your work. It makes your artistic memory eternal, erases the distance, and states you did leave a mark. "When they give you a star here, you're an actor forever," he remarked. Indeed, how could one not be proud? From its inception, this coveted award has only been given to two Italian male performers. The first was Rodolfo Valentino, the Apulian Latin lover who arrived in America in 1913 from the tiny hamlet of Castellaneta Marina; the silent film star who, with his smoldering looks and irresistible appeal, conque- After Rodolfo Valentino, another Italian male actor's star shines in Hollywood with Giancarlo Giannini From the Editor red eternal remembrance in the history of cinema in a career that spanned only a handful of years. Even today, he is remembered as if he died yesterday, rather than in the sweltering summer of 1926. In those days, displays of hysteria and devotion, as well as thirty suicides, accompa- nied his funerals in New York. Tens of thousands of people attended a ceremony that was also replicated in Los Ange- les, where his remains were buried in the Hollywood Fore- ver Cemetery Mausoleum, and where a ceremony remem- bers him every year among crimson rose petals and veiled ladies in grief, dressed in early 1900s garb. N o m a l e a c t o r b e f o r e h i m h a d b e c o m e s o f a m o u s worldwide thanks to the seventh art but, back then, the competition was limited to very few names. Today, earning a space among the over 2,730 brass stars is much more dif- ficult. So, in many ways, it is a double success for Giancarlo Giannini, who can now read his name engraved in red gra- nite just a few steps away from Gina Lollobrigida's, who passed away a few weeks ago. "Not having worked with her is one of my regrets. Many years ago - said the actor, who was born in Liguria, moved to Naples as a child and to Rome at 18, where he then made his theatre debut - she proposed that we do a comedy together on Broadway, but then nothing came of it." The significance of his award stems from the emotional dedication he made in Los Angeles: "It's a huge honor for me, and I owe it all to Lina Wertmüller: I wouldn't be here if she didn't believe in me. We used to come here with film pizzas in our arms to show to a local producer. She was a genius, yet she was underappreciated in Italy." But still, two years before her death at the age of 93, Hollywood bestowed upon her the honor of a star in 2019, recognizing her as one of the most well-known Italian directors and screenwriters in the world. She started as an assistant director for Fellini in La Dolce Vita and 8 e Mezzo, and obtained her biggest successes in the 1970s with Giancarlo Giannini, in films such as The Seduction of Mimi, Love and Anarchy, Swept Away, and Seven Beauties (for which Gian- nini was nominated for an Oscar). The path to Italian artistic glory, from 1958 to today, has only 16 stars: there's the world of opera, for which Italy is famous worldwide, with Enrico Caruso and Arturo Tosca- nini, Renata Tebaldi and Licia Albanese, Beniamino Gigli and Ezio Pinza, Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli. The- re's the world of music of great conductors and arrangers like Annunzio Paolo Mantovani or Ennio Morricone who, with his notes, made cinema immortal. Then, there's the cinema of great actresses like Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, and the world of directing masters like Bernardo Bertolucci and, of course, Lina Wertmuller. There are only two actors: Rodolfo Alfonzo Raffaelo Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla, the symbol of silent cinema who received his star in 1960, and Giannini, who has always been greatly loved in the US. This was publicly confirmed at the star unveiling by produ- cer Michael Gregg Wilson who, along with Barbara Brocco- li, wanted him in two chapters of their James Bond saga, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace: "You deserve this star, Giancarlo, you charming, handsome, sexy man!" Wil- son said. Simone Schiavinato, Editor Simone Schiavinato NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS P.O.BOX 6528, ALTADENA, CA 91003 Member of FUSIE (Federazione Unitaria Stampa Italianaall'Estero), COGITO L'Italo-Americano 610 West Foothill Blvd. Unit D, Monrovia, CA 91016 - Tel.: (626) 359-7715 PLEASE SEND CORRESPONDENCE TO P.O. BOX 6528, ALTADENA, CA 91003 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano Newspaper (a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization), www.italoamericano.org, is the largest and longest-running Italian newspaper in America, not to mention the cultural and news resource for all things Italian in the US. A bilingual newspaper which repre- sents an historical landmark for the Italian American Communities in the West Coast and throughout the US. L'Italo-Americano benefits from subsidies by the Italian Government, Memberships and Donations intended to support and not interrupt a mission that began in 1908 to preserve and promote the Italian language and culture in the USA Periodicals postage paid at Monrovia, California 91016, and additional mailing offices. PUBLISHER Robert Barbera Grande Ufficiale EDITOR IN CHIEF Simone Schiavinato ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER Patrick Abbate EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Barbara Minafra COPY EDITOR Francesca Bezzone LOS ANGELES CONTRIBUTOR Silvia Nittoli SAN FRANCISCO CONTRIBUTORS Serena Perfetto SEATTLE CONTRIBUTOR Rita Cipalla CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mariella Radaelli, Matt Walker, Francesca Bezzone, Luca Ferrari, Stefano Carnevali, Paula Reynolds, Nicoletta Curradi, Generoso D'Agnese, Jessica L. 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