E ‘dead Giorgio Albertazzi, the last emperor of the theater: he had 92 years – The Republic

He has died at the age of 92 years Giorgio Albertazzi, one of the most important figures of Italian theater of the twentieth century. The actor was in Tuscany in the house of Pia de ‘Tolomei. The latest apparzioni in the theater it The Merchant of Venice , The storm and Memoirs of Hadrian . As was announced by the family, announcing the death of the “greatest Italian actor, Albertazzi long” was suffering and his heart stopped beating at 9am. “
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Neighbor until the last moment “with love – continues the statement released – his wife, Pia Tolomei of Lippa married before aa Valter Veltroni in 2007 in the deconsecrated church of Caracalla when he was 84 years old and she 48.”

“It ‘not a great Italian, classical artist and different, “said Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, remembering him from the opening of the biennale in Venice. at condolences joined the president of the Republic Sergio Mattarella:” With Giorgio Albertazzi lost one of the foremost artists of the theater and of contemporary Italian cinema “she recalled Mattarella,” his interpretations of the great classics remain a milestone in the history of entertainment. Albertazzi, who dedicated the theater’s entire existence, has been a point of reference and teacher for generations of actors and directors. “

Born in Fiesole August 20, 1923, Albertazzi had debuted in 1949 with Troilus and Cressida Shakespeare, led by Luchino Visconti. Two years after the debut in the cinema with the film “Article 519 Criminal Code” by Leonardo Cortese. the following year he starred in both the Don Camillo by Julien Duvivier that the Merchant of Venice by Pierre Billon and Giorgio Capitani. it was, however, the radio and television to give him great fame. in 1954 he was the protagonist of the drama Rai Crime and punishment “and in which he played alongside Diana Torrieri Toccafondi and Bianca, directed by Franco Enriquez.

in 1956 the Tuscan actor starred in other television prose, like the spectra by Henrik Ibsen, directed by Marco Ferrero, and in the Lorenzaccio Alfred De Musset. Until 1961, when the figure in the cast of the film “a bandit” Death, Albertazzi was present in the cast of all successful dramas produced by public television, such as the King Lear , The idiot , uncle Vania and many others. In 1961 he was one of the interpreters of the film Last year in Mariendbad by Alain Resnais, which won the Golden Lion in Venice.

From the archive – Interview: “I am King Lear, and I want to die on stage”

Between 1969 and 1970, he passed Albertazzi director in TV and film. For Rai he directed and performed Jekyll , taken from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde d Robert L .. Stevenson, getting a huge success. The following year instead directed the film Gradiva , where he played alongside a young Laura Antonelli.

On television, then returned in 1974 with the series Philo Vance , wearing clothes detective created by SS Van Dine. In that same year she starred in the film The night of Tonino Cervi . From this moment on, he devoted himself almost exclusively to the theater, with some appearance on the screens of cinema. After making his debut in 1964 at the Old Vic Theatre in London with the Hamlet directed by Franco Zeffirelli, on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, Albertazzi played Oedipus alla Scala in Milan in a Oedipus with music of Andrea Gabrieli scene directed by Giorgio De Lullo: on stage with him Proclemer Anna and Gabriele Lavia. At the Teatro La Fenice in Venice in 1980 oversaw the direction and adaptation of Peer Gynt , by Henrik Ibsen with incidental music by Edvard Grieg and was a narrator with the ever-present Anna Proclemer, which was even life partner.

on television he returned only in 1989, with one of his works, the power of angels .

in 1994 he took over the laboratory Performing Arts City of Volterra, which he founded, which has trained dozens of actors. Just with this theatrical workshop, five years later, in 1999, Albertazzi brought on stage Tango with students Borges. In 1996 he tried to lean into politics, by standing for Parliament in the ranks of the center-right and getting only 31% of the vote, not enough to go to the House.

In 1997 he was the protagonist, along with Giuni Russian, the music and poetry show Verba Tango . In 2003 he was appointed director of the Theatre of Rome, while a year later he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award Gassman. Also in 2004, he collaborated with Dario Fo Albertazzi a series of events-lectures on the history of theater in Italy.

On 10 February 2006 he participated in the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Turin, playing the Canto of Ulysses Dante year later however, exactly 12 December 2007, married in Rome the Florentine Pia de ‘Tolomei, his junior by 36 years.

in 2009, to show their closeness to the people of L’Aquila hit by the earthquake, he recorded a reading for Rai 2, taken from the Divine Comedy , and set in the ruins of the old town of L’Aquila.