Ernesto Calindri, not only the artichoke bitter: a book tells the story of the master of the theater that Carosello turned into a star

25 years after his death, Mauro Ballerini retraces the life and career of a character who has crossed the history of Italy

la Republica

By Anna Lupini

March 20, 2024

Ernesto Calindri, for many just a face linked to the TV of the Carosello. In the collective memory, his stately and placid appearance remains inextricably linked to an advertisement: it was the gentleman sitting in Piazza Duomo in Milan sipping an artichoke bitter, capable of counteracting "the wear and tear of modern life".

In reality, the man was much more and more. To restore the right artistic dimension to the actor and director, Mauro Ballerini took care of it, who 25 years after his death publishes the first monograph entirely dedicated to his life and his art. Rarely have I written Theatre without a capital letter is the title of the vast historical-literary work focused on the figure of Ernesto Calindri and published by the Photo Travel Editions Publishing House of Rionero in V. (PZ).

In over 700 pages rich in history, the result of meticulous documentary research in the most disparate archives, which lasted over ten years, Ernesto Calindri reveals himself as a multifaceted figure: not only entertainer and comic actor, but also dramatic artist, interpreter of classical and experimental theater, chief comedian, director, talent scout and artistic director, acting teacher, TV presenter, Radio, film and television actor. Through his career, which unfolds over 70 years, the book also traces the history of Italy, from fascism to Tangentopoli: Calindri is the involuntary witness of crucial events, decades full of social, political and cultural changes.

[Ernesto Calindri, right, with Paola Borbone and Vittorio Gassman]

The man will emerge (his childhood, his beginnings, his fears), the father, the friend, the teacher and the old man with inexhaustible resources. Its history will be the history of Italian theatre in the 20th century, but also the history of Italy, from the Mussolini myth to the spies of the Ovra, from fascist censorship to Christian Democrat bigotry, from the post-war years to those of the 1968 subversion and the years of lead. Through him, the birth of TV and the moon landing, the invasion of Hungary and the referendum struggle on divorce.

But Calindri doesn't come out of nowhere; he is preceded by generations of actors, comedians and prima donnas: they are his parents, his grandparents, his ancestors, a long and fascinating adventure that time had definitively erased and that had to be rediscovered, a work painstakingly accomplished by Ballerini, who carried out a meticulous research work. A work that aims to reconcile historical rigor with narrative pleasantness, the scientific nature of the data with the ineffability of feeling.

CALINDRI, Ernesto (aka E. Calindri) [2/5/1909, Certaldo, Tuscany, Italy – 6/9/1999, Milan, Lombardy, Italy (stroke)] – director, writer, theater, film, TV actor, son of actor Manlio Calindri [18??-19??] actress Egloge Felletti [18??-19??], brother of actress Dora Calindri (Fedora Calindri) [1910–2002], married to actress Roberta Mari (Yvi Mirenda) [1918-1993] (1939-1993) father of actor Gabriele Calindri [1960-    ], three other children.

The Two Sergeants of General Custer – 1965 (Colonel Custer)