Totò
Biography
Totò was born Antonio Clemente in a poor district of Naples, the illegitimate son of Anna Clemente from Sicily and Marquis Giuseppe De Curtis from Naples. Nicknamed “il principe della risata’ (the prince of laughter), he was an Italian comedian, film and theatre actor, writer, singer and songwriter, and widely considered one of the greatest Italian artists of the 20th century. While he first gained his popularity as a comic actor, his dramatic roles, poetry, and songs are all of cultural import; his style and a number of his recurring jokes and gestures have become universally known memes in Italy. As a comic actor, Totò is classified as an heir of the Commedia dell'Arte tradition, and has been compared to such figures as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. At the age of 15, he was already acting as a comedian in small theatres, under the pseudonym "Clerment". His early repertoire mostly consisted in imitations of Gustavo De Marco's characters. He served in the army during World War I and then went back to acting to develop the trademarks of his style. In 1937, he appeared in his first movie "Fermo con le mani", and later starred in 96 more films, many of which are still frequently broadcast on Italian television. In his vast cinematographic career, Totò had the opportunity to act side by side with virtually all major Italian actors of the time. Totò's unmistakable figure, with his peculiarly irregular face (due to an accident in his teen years), and his unique trademark ability to disarticulate his body like a marionette, soon became very popular and his comic gags became part of the Italian culture. Totò died at the age of 69 in Rome after a series of heart attacks. Due to overwhelming popularity there were three funeral services: the first in Rome, and the second and third in Naples. Totò's birth home has been recently opened to the public as a museum.
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (50)
'A Livella
Original Concept (Writing)
2025
Totò e il Principe De Curtis - L'uomo oltre la maschera
as Se stesso
2023
We Are Cinema
as Self (archive footage)
2021
Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita
as Self (archive footage)
2021
Siamo tutti Alberto Sordi?
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2020
Naples '44
as Self (archive footage)
2016
How We Got the Italian Movie Business Into Trouble: The True Story of Franco and Ciccio
as Self (archive footage)
2004
SuperTotò
1980
Antologia di Totò
as Totò (se stesso)
1978
Un sorriso, uno schiaffo, un bacio in bocca
as (archive footage)
1975
Caprice Italian Style
as Anziano Signore / Iago
1968
What Are the Clouds?
as Iago
1968
Totò Story
1968
Tutto Totò - Il tuttofare
1967
Tutto Totò - Totò a Napoli
as Totò, la guida non autorizzata
1967
Tutto Totò - Totò Ciak
as Totò l'agente segreto
1967
Tutto Totò - Totò Ye Ye
as musicista capellone
1967
Il latitante
as Gennaro La Pezza
1967
Tutto Totò - Il grande maestro
as Mardoccheo Stonatelli
1967
The Witches
as Ciancicato Miao (segment "La Terra vista dalla Luna")
1967
The Earth As Seen from the Moon
as Ciancicato Miao
1967
Tutto Totò - La scommessa
as Oberdan Lo Cascio
1967
Tutto Totò - Don Giovannino
as Barnaba Parmiggiani aka 'Babà'
1967
Tutto Totò - Premio Nobel
as il professor Serafino Bolletta
1967
The Treasure of San Gennaro
as Don Vincenzo
1966
The Hawks and the Sparrows
as Totò Innocenti / Frate Cicillo
1966
Rita the American Girl
as Serafino Benvenuti
1965
The Mandrake
as il frate
1965
Latin Lovers
as Rag. Antonio Gargiulo (ep. Amore e morte)
1965
Totò d'Arabia
as Totò
1965
Beautiful Families
as Filiberto Comanducci
1964
What Ever Happened to Baby Toto?
as Totò Baby / il Padre
1964
Laughs Italian Style
1964
Totò versus the Black Pirate
as Josè
1964
The Commandant
as Col. Antonio Cavalli
1963
Gli onorevoli
as Antonio La Trippa
1963
Toto and Cleopatra
as Marc'Antonio / Totonno
1963
Totò Sexy
as Nini Cantachiaro
1963
Le motorizzate
as Urbano Cacace (segment "Il Vigile Ignoto")
1963
The Monk of Monza
as Pasquale Cicciacalda / Don Manuel
1963
Totò vs the Four
as commissario Antonio Saracino
1963
The Shortest Day
as frate bersagliere
1963
Two Colonels
as Colonnello Di Maggio
1963
Toto at Night
as Nini
1962
Totò e Peppino divisi a Berlino
as Antonio La Puzza / Amministratore di Canarinis
1962
Lo smemorato di Collegno
as lo smemorato
1962
Totò diabolicus
as Galeazzo / Carlo / Scipione / Antonio / Laudomia / Pasquale
1962
Totò versus Maciste
as Totokamen
1962
The Two Marshals
as Antonio Capurro
1961
Totòtruffa '62
as Antonio LoRuffo
1961