Totò
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
Cinépanorama
Self
1956
Film
Tutto Totò - Totò Ye Ye
musicista capellone
1967
Film
Big Deal on Madonna Street
Dante Cruciani
1958
Film
Sua Eccellenza si fermò a mangiare
Dott. Biagio Tanzarella
1961
Film
The Witches
Ciancicato Miao (segment "La Terra vista dalla Luna")
1967
Film
Totò le Mokò
Antonio Lumaconi / Totò le Moko
1949
Film
Toto and the Women
Antonio Scaparro
1952
Film
Totò Story
1968
Film
Totò sexy
Nini Cantachiaro
1963
Film
Latin Lovers
Rag. Antonio Gargiulo (ep. Amore e morte)
1965
Film
Naples '44
Self (archive footage)
2016
Film
We Are Cinema
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
Tutto Totò - Don Giovannino
Barnaba Parmiggiani aka 'Babà'
1967
Film
La cambiale
Cesare Posalaquaglia
1959
Film
Toto the Sheik
Antonio Sapone
1950
Film
He Who Hesitates Is Lost
Antonio Guardalavecchia
1960
Film
Side Street Story
Pasquale Miele
1950
Film
Toto in Paris
Marchese Gastone de Chemantel / Chateau-Boiron / il vagabondo Totò
1958
Film
Toto, Fabrizi and the Young People Today
Cavalier Antonio Cocozza
1960
Film
Tutto Totò - Il grande maestro
Mardoccheo Stonatelli
1967
Film
Toto in Madrid
Totò Scorceletti
1959
Film
Totò Double or Nothing?
Duca Gagliardo della Forcoletta
1956
Film
Totò, Vittorio and the Doctor
Michele Spillone detto Mike
1957
Film
The Treasure of San Gennaro
Don Vincenzo
1966
Film
Totò Looking for a House
Beniamino Lomacchio
1949
Film
Of Life and Love
Rosario Chiarchiaro
1954
Film
SuperTotò
1980
Film
The Overtaxed
Torquato Pezzella
1959
Film
Laughs Italian Style
1964
Film
The Passionate Thief
Umberto 'Infortunio' Pennazzuto
1960
Film
Legs of Gold
Barone Luigi Fontana
1958
Film
Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life
Antonio Barbacane
1961
Film
Toto Tours Italy
Prof. Totò Casamandrei
1948
Film
Totòtruffa '62
Antonio LoRuffo
1961
Film
Toto and Cleopatra
Marc'Antonio / Totonno
1963
Film
Caprice Italian Style
Anziano Signore / Iago
1968
Film
The Shortest Day
frate bersagliere
1963
Film
Totò vs the Four
commissario Antonio Saracino
1963
Film
Roman Tales
Professor Semprini
1955
Film
The Gold of Naples
Don Saverio Petrillo (segment "Il guappo")
1954
Film
The Law Is the Law
Giuseppe La Paglia
1958
Film
The Hawks and the Sparrows
Totò Innocenti / Frate Cicillo
1966
Film
The Two Marshals
Antonio Capurro
1961
Film
Tutto Totò - La scommessa
Oberdan Lo Cascio
1967
Film
Totò versus Maciste
Totokamen
1962
Film
Totò Looking for Wife
Totò
1950
Film
You're on Your Own
Il nonno illuminato
1959
Film
Totò diabolicus
Galeazzo / Carlo / Scipione / Antonio / Laudomia / Pasquale
1962
Film
47 Talking Corpses
Il barone Antonio Peletti
1950
Film
The Band of Honest Men
Antonio Buonocore
1956
Film
Are We Men or Corporals?
Totò Esposito
1955
Film
Slave Girl
Gobbone il cammello (narratore)
1947
Film
Lo smemorato di Collegno
lo smemorato
1962
Film
Toto and the Kings of Rome
Ercole Pappalardo
1952
Film
The Mandrake
il frate
1965
Film
Poverty and Nobility
Don Felice Sciosciammocca
1954
Film
Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
The Monk of Monza
Pasquale Cicciacalda / Don Manuel
1963
Film
Funniest Show on Earth
Tottons
1953
Film
Beautiful Families
Filiberto Comanducci
1964
Film
What Ever Happened to Baby Toto?
Totò Baby / il Padre
1964
Film
Totó in color
Antonio Scannagatti
1952
Film
Toto and Carolina
Antonio Caccavallo
1955
Film
Totò, Peppino e le fanatiche
Antonio Vignarello
1958
Film
Totò all'inferno
Antonio Marchi
1955
Film
Il coraggio
Gennaro Vaccariello
1955
Film
Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge
Antonio
1956
Film
Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy
Antonio Caponi
1956
Film
Cops and Robbers
Ferdinando Esposito
1951
Film
Gli onorevoli
Antonio La Trippa
1963
Film
Neapolitan Turk
Felice Sciosciammocca
1953
Film
Figaro qua... Figaro là
Figaro
1950
Film
Where Is Freedom?
Salvatore Lojacono
1954
Film
Two Colonels
Colonnello Di Maggio
1963
Film
Two Hearts Against the Beast
Totò
1943
Film
Yvonne of the Night
Nino, il fantasista
1949
Film
The Commandant
Col. Antonio Cavalli
1963
Film
Destinazione Piovarolo
Antonio La Quaglia
1955
Film
Totò d'Arabia
Totò
1965
Film
Totò versus the Black Pirate
Josè
1964
Film
Signori si nasce
Ottone Degli Ulivi, detto Zazà
1960
Film
Tototarzan
Antonio Della Buffas
1950
Film
Hollywood sul Tevere
2009
Film
Le motorizzate
Urbano Cacace (segment "Il Vigile Ignoto")
1963
Film
The Three Thieves
Tapioca
1954
Film
Noi duri
L'Algerino
1960
Film
Letto a tre piazze
Antonio Di Cosimo
1960
Film
The Firemen of Viggiù
Totò
1949
Film
Le sei mogli di Barbablù
Totò Esposito
1950
Film
Totò in the Moon
Pasquale Belafronte
1958
Film
The Emperor of Capri
Antonio De Fazio
1949
Film
Un sorriso, uno schiaffo, un bacio in bocca
(archive footage)
1975
Film
Totò e Peppino divisi a Berlino
Antonio La Puzza / Amministratore di Canarinis
1962
Film
Toto and Marcellino
Il Professore
1958
Film
Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti
1977
Film
Tutto Totò - Totò Ciak
Totò l'agente segreto
1967
Film
The Anatomy of Love
Dionillo
1954
Film
Two Little Orphans
Gasparre
1947
Film
Seven Hours of Troubles
Totò De Pasquale
1951
Film
Tutto Totò - Il tuttofare
1967
Film
L'allegro fantasma
Nicolino & Gelsomino & Antonino
1941
Film
Siamo tutti Alberto Sordi?
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2020
Film
Toto the Third Man
Piero / Paolo / Totò
1951
Film
The Thieves
Commissario Di Savio
1959
Film
Fifa e arena
Nicolino Capece
1948
Film
Man, Beast and Virtue
Prof. Paolino
1953
Film
Il medico dei pazzi
Felice Sciosciammocca
1954
Film
Hands Off Me!
Conte Toto di Torretota
1937
Film
How We Got the Italian Movie Business Into Trouble: The True Story of Franco and Ciccio
Self (archive footage)
2004
Film
Animal Crackers
Barone Tolomeo dei Tolomei
1939
Film
What Are the Clouds?
Iago
1968
Film
The Earth As Seen from the Moon
Ciancicato Miao
1967
Film
The Rape of the Sabine
Aristide Tromboni
1945
Film
Rita the American Girl
Serafino Benvenuti
1965
Film
Tutto Totò - Totò a Napoli
Totò, la guida non autorizzata
1967
Film
Tutto Totò - Premio Nobel
il professor Serafino Bolletta
1967
Film
Totò Seeks Peace
Gennaro Piselli
1954
Film
Forza Italia!
Self (archive footage)
1977
Film
Il latitante
Gennaro La Pezza
1967
Film
Totò e il Principe De Curtis - L'uomo oltre la maschera
Se stesso
2023
Film
Toto at Night
Nini
1962
Film
Variety carousel
1955
Film
San Giovanni decollato
Mastro Agostino Miciacio
1940
Film
Una di quelle
Rocco Bardelli
1953
Film
Antologia di Totò
Totò (se stesso)
1978