Adolfo Celi

Adolfo Celi
Adolfo Celi in Amici miei (1975).
Born	27 July 1922(1922-07-27) Messina, Sicily, Italy
Died	19 February 1986(1986-02-19) (aged 63) Rome, Italy
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1946–1985
Spouse	Tônia Carrero (1951 1962) (divorced) Marília Branco (1963-?) (divorced Veronica Lazar (1966-1986) (his death) 2 children

Adolfo Celi (Italian pronunciation: [adˈolfo ˈtʃɛli]; 27 July 1922 –19 February 1986) was an Italian film actor and director.

Life and career

Born in Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 movies, specializing in international villains. His most famous role was as Emilio Largo in the 1965 James Bond movie Thunderball. Celi later spoofed his Thunderball role in the film OK Connery (aka Operation Double 007) opposite Sean Connery's brother, Neil. He also appeared as a protagonist in some Italian comedies like Amici Miei and Brancaleone alle Crociate. Another well-known role of his was as camp commandant Battaglia opposite Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard's Allied POWs in the 1965 World War II escape drama Von Ryan's Express. He is also known to international audiences as Ralph Valmont, one of the villans in the Mario Bava action thriller Danger: Diabolik.

In addition to his native Italian, Celi was fluent in several languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese, but his thick Sicilian accent meant that he was usually dubbed when he appeared in English language films. For example, Robert Rietti provided his voice in both Thunderball and That Man from Rio. However, he was not dubbed in the 1981 BBC serial The Borgias, in which Celi played Rodrigo Borgia. Despite his strong Sicilian accent, his vocal parts were not dubbed and he was criticised for being hard to follow for British audiences, although his characterisation was popular.^{[citation needed]}

During his early career, Celi was also successful as a stage actor in Argentina and Brazil, where he owned an actors' company along with the Brazilian stage greats Paulo Autran and Tonia Carrero. He directed three films in South America in the 1950s, including the Brazilian hit Tico-Tico no Fubá in 1952.

Celi was married three times. He died of a heart attack in Rome in 1986.

Filmography

External links

• Adolfo Celi at the Internet Movie Database