Who Are Those Guys? ~ Fanfulla

[Photo courtesy Michael Ferguson.]

Luigi Visconti was born in Rome on February 26, 1913. He debuted at very young age on stage alongside his mother, the actress Mercedes Menolesi (who was best known as "Diavolina").

From the mid-1940s to the late 1950s, he adopted the stage name Fanfulla and was a popular comedian of cabaret and avanspettacolo shows, acclaimed for his brilliant style, referred to as "The King of Avanspettacolo" and even paired with Ettore Petrolini.

His career was relaunched by Federico Fellini, who chose him for the role of Vernacchio in “Fellini Satyricon”, a role that gave Fanfulla a Nastro d'Argento for best supporting actor. In 1970, Fellini gave him a main role in “The Clowns”.

In 1971, Fanfulla died from a heart attack in a hotel in Bologna on January 5, 1971, while he was on tour with his avanspettacolo company.

Fanfulla appeared in two Euro-westerns: “La sceriffa” (The Sheriff) as Deputy Ciccio and as Pedro in “I magnifici tre” (The Magnificent Three).

FANFULLA (aka Luigi Fanfulla, Luigi Fanfulla Visconti, Luigi Visconti) (Luigi Visconti) [2/26/1913, Rome, Lazio, Italy – 1/5/1971, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy (heart attack)] – theater, film, TV actor, son of actress Diavolina (Mercedes Menolesi).

The Sheriff – 1959 (Deputy Ciccio)

The Magnificent Three – 1961 (Pedro)