Victor Spinetti
Known for: Acting
Victor Sinetti (born Vittorio Giorgio Andre Spinetti) was a Welsh comedy actor, author and poet. He appeared in dozens of films and stage plays throughout his 50-year career, including the three 1960s Beatles films "A Hard Day's Night", "Help!" and "Magical Mystery Tour". Born in Cwm, Ebbw Vale, Wales, Spinetti was educated at Monmouth School and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, of which he became a Fellow. After various menial jobs, Spinetti pursued a stage career and was closely associated with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in London, England. Among the productions were "Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be" and "Oh! What a Lovely War" (1963), which transferred to New York City and for which he won a Tony Award. Spinetti's film career developed simultaneously; his dozens of film appearances would include Zeffirelli's "The Taming of the Shrew", "Under Milk Wood", "The Return of the Pink Panther" and "Under the Cherry Moon". During his later career, Spinetti acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in such roles as Lord Foppington in "The Relapse" and the Archbishop in "Richard III", at Stratford-upon-Avon; and, in 1990, he appeared in "The Krays". In 2008 he appeared in a one-man show, "A Very Private Diary", which toured the UK as "A Very Private Diary ... Revisited!", recounting his life story. Spinetti was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011 and died of the disease in June 2012.
Filmography
Series
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
1962
Series
The Saint
Commissionaire
1962
Series
BBC Play of the Month
Hatch
1965
Series
BBC Play of the Month
Trivelin
1965
Series
Omnibus
Self
1967
Series
New Tricks
2004
Series
Thirty-Minute Theatre
George
1965
Series
Richard the Lionheart
Pierre
1962
Series
Bottom
Maître d'
1991
Series
Mistral's Daughter
Bianchi
1984
Series
The Beatles Anthology
Foot (archive footage)
1995
Series
The Paradise Club
Elliott Rossini
1989
Film
A Hard Day's Night
T.V. Director
1964
Film
The Return of the Pink Panther
Hotel Concierge
1975
Film
Becket
French Tailor (uncredited)
1964
Film
The Taming of the Shrew
Hortensio
1967
Series
SuperTed
Texas Pete
1983
Film
Voyage of the Damned
Dr. Erich Strauss
1976
Series
In the Beginning
Happatezoah, Pharaoh's Magician
2000
Series
The Further Adventures of SuperTed
1989
Series
High Hopes
2002
Film
The Krays
Mr. Lawson
1990
Film
Help!
Prof. Foot
1965
Film
Emily
Richard Walker
1976
Series
The Story of Musicals
Self
2012
Film
The Little Prince
The Historian
1974
Film
The Princess and the Goblin
Glump (voice)
1991
Film
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Mr. Tumnus (voice)
1979
Series
Two in Clover
Vic Evans
1969
Series
Paul Merton: The Series
1991
Film
Start the Revolution Without Me
Duke d'Escargot
1970
Film
Magical Mystery Tour
Army Sergeant
1967
Series
3-2-1
1978
Sweet Sixteen
Series
An Actor's Life for Me
Desmond Shaw
1991
Film
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Attack of the Hawkmen
Bragas / Major M
1995
Film
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Adventures in the Secret Service
Colonel Dupree
1999
Film
Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World
Prof. Ribart
1973
Take My Wife
1979
Film
Under the Cherry Moon
The Jaded Three #1
1986
Film
Romeo.Juliet
Tybalt (voice)
1990
Film
Casanova & Co.
The Prefect
1977
Film
The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank
Herman Van Daan
1988
Film
Under Milk Wood
Mog Edwards
1972
Film
Hardcore
Duncan
1977
Film
The Biggest Bundle of Them All
Captain Giglio
1968
Film
Boobs in the Wood
Triar Fuck
1999
Film
The Great McGonagall
1975
Film
Tommy Cooper - The Magic Touch
1993
Film
Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?
Critic Sharpnose
1969
Film
Sparrows Can't Sing
Arnold
1963
Film
A Promise of Bed
George
1969
Film
The 500 Pound Jerk
Martin Bloore
1973
Film
The Wild Affair
Quentin
1965
Film
I Think They Call Him John
Narrator (voice)
1964
Film
You Can't Do That! The Making of 'A Hard Day's Night'
Self
1995
Fred Basset
1976
Character Building
(voice)
1995
Film
Defeat of the Mafia
Charles Agostino
1970
Film
Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done
Dick Deadeye (voice)
1975
Julie and the Cadillacs
Cyril Wise
1999
Film
Seriously Seeking Sid
Self
1993
Film
The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour Memories
Self - Narrator
2008
Film
The Gentle Terror
Joe
1961