RIP Giacomo Piperno

 

Italian actor and voice dubber Giacomo Piperno died in Rome on May 31^st. He was 90. Born in Rome on January 20, 1936, into a Jewish family, Piperno escaped deportation by fleeing to Switzerland with his family in the days of the roundup in the ghetto of Rome in October 1943. He made his debut in 1960 with a television role in ‘Lieutenant Sheridan: A Gardenia for Helena Carrel’ (1960), but it was with the film "Commandos" (1968) with Lee Van Cleef, that his career gained momentum. Since then, his versatility has led him to play dramatic, historical and comic roles on the big and small screen, ranging from "Sacco e Vanzetti" (1971), to "Rugantino" (1973), up to the episode ‘In banca’ of ‘Tu mi turbi’ (1982) directed by Roberto Benigni. For Benigni he has also always starred in "The Little Devil" (1988). Among other films he starred in "Il camorrista" (1986), "Splendor" (1988), "Open Doors" (1990), "Il portaborse" (1991), "Pasolini, un delitto italiano" (1995). On television he participated in numerous series and miniseries, including ‘Napoleon on St. Helena’ (1973) and ‘Catherine and Her Daughters" (2005-2007), where he played the husband of Iva Zanicchi's character. His talent also extended to dubbing between the sixties and eighties he lent his voice to performers such as Gene Hackman and Philippe Leroy, helping to make the characters on the Italian big screen memorable. Giacomo Piperno’s dubbed Italian voices for nine Spaghetti westerns: “A Coffin for the Sheriff” 1965 [Italian voice of Miguel De La Riva], “Pecos Cleans Up” 1967 [Italian voice of Carl Gaddi], “A Hole in the Forehead” [Italian voice of Gianni Brezza] and “One by One” [Italian voice of Peter Lee Lawrence] both in 1968, “Heads or Tails”  1969 [Italian voice of Franco Daddi], “Adiós, Sabata”1970 [Italian voice of Dean Reed], “Kill Django... Kill First” [Italian voice of Giacomo Rossi Stuart], “Shoot Joe, and Shoot Again” [Italian voice of Richard Harrison] and “Shoot the Living and Pray for the Dead” [Italian voice of Klaus Kinski] all in 1971.