Remembering Paolo Stoppa

Paolo Stoppa was born on June 6, 1906 in Rome, Italy. He debuted on the stage in 1927 and soon rose from a generic actor to a star. From 1938-1940 he was a member of Teatro Eliseo in Rome. It was while working for this theater troop that he met and married actress Rina Morelli [1908-1976]. Stoppa and Morelli teamed with director Luchino Visconti to form a trio that adapted a number of works of the authors Chekhov, Shakespear and Goldini which were highly acclaimed. Stoppa made his film debut in 1932's "L’armata azzurra". During the 1930s he also lent his voice to dubbing films into Italian, dubbing such American actors as Fred Astaire, Richard Widmark, Kirk Douglas and Paul Muni. In the 1970s he began a successful career on television. When Rina passed away in 1976 Stoppa was devastated but found solace when he returned to the theater. Paola appeared in only one Euro-western but it was a memorable role as Sam in "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968) for Sergio Leone. Stoppa passed away at the age of 82 on May 1, 1998 in Rome. Today we remember Paolo Stoppa on what would have been his 95^th birthday.