Thursday, December 20, 2012

Remembering Giampiero Albertini



Giampiero Albertini was born on December 20, 1927 in Muggiò, Milan, Italy. He was an Italian actor and film dubber. Remembered for his hard features and expressive, low voice, he acquired national fame primarily as the Italian voice of TV’s Columbo played by Peter Falk.

Albertini participated in many films, some minor and others more famous, among which “Queimada” (1969) and “Uomini contro” (1970). Interestingly, in addition to having voiced the famous lieutenant of the LAPD, as an actor he participated in many crime productions, a film genre that became fashionable in Italy during the seventies.

Especially in the seventies and eighties he had become a familiar face to the general public thanks to his participation in numerous successful television dramas such as “The Life of Leonardo Da Vinci” (1972), in which he played the character of Ludovico il Moro, “A come Andromeda” (1972), “Lungo il fiume e sull'acqua” (1973), “Verdi” (1982) (in the role of Antonio Barezzi, father and first patron of the composer) and “I promessi sposi” (1989). Albertini appeared in four Euro-westerns during this time: “A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die” (1967), “The Return of Sabata” (1971), “Halleluja to Vera Cruz” (1973) and “Zorro” (1975)

Giampiero was also the host of the television program “A come agricoltura” in the ‘70's. Memorable also was his portrayal of Otto alongside Nino Manfredi and Gastone Moschin, in the exciting and successful comedy “Italian Secret Service” (1968) by Luigi Comencini. The film “Perché quelle strane gocce di sangue sul corpo di Jennifer? (1971) which saw him as inspector Enci, which was quite similar to that of his best known Columbo. His last work that he was identified with was in an interview with Bruno Vespa Iraqi President Saddam Hussein a few days before the outbreak of the first Gulf War, in which he was the Italian interpreter and voice for the Iraqi leader.

Giampiero died of a heart attack on May 14, 1991 in Rome. Today we remember Giampiero Albertinit on what would have been his 85th birthday.

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