Gianni Lunadei (May 1, 1938 â€" June 17, 1998) was an Italian
Argentine actor. He is considered as one of the most versatile actors
of his generation, and is best known for his work in Argentine
comedy.Lunadei was born in Rome in 1938. His mother was a seamstress
and his father a brick mason, and the young Lunadei first developed an
interest in acting when at age five, his parents introduced him to the
cinema and theater. The family struggled during World War II, however,
and his mother emigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Gianni
arrived in 1950, followed by his father shortly afterward.He debuted
in the local theater in 1954 playing George in a local production of
Arthur Miller's All My Sons, and was later cast in Seán O'Casey's The
Shadow of a Gunman and Anton Chekhov's Platonov. His career on the
stage flourished, and he worked as a resident actor in the National
Comedy for eleven years, and in the General San MartÃn Theatre for
six. Beyond the stage, he had a turn as Count Dracula in a 1968
made-for-television special starring veteran horror film actor Narciso
Ibáñez Menta. Among Lunadei's notable stage roles from this era
include those in Peter Weiss' Marat/Sade, Carlo Goldoni's Servant of
Two Masters, as well as the title role in Pantaleon, a commedia
dell'arte work by Argentine playwright Villanueva Cosse. This latter
role won Lunadei the city of Mar del Plata's "Star of the Sea" in 1975
with co-star China Zorilla. He earned a Molière Prize for this role,
and won a second one in 1977. He married actress Stella Maris Lanzani,
and they had four children.Lunadei ventured into Argentine cinema in
1976 with a minor part in Carlos Galettini's tragedy Juan que reÃa
(Juan Who Once Laughed). He had a leading role in Manuel Antin's Allá
lejos y hace tiempo (Long Ago and Far Away, 1978); but in subsequent
years he became known for portraying manic characters in picaresque
comedy films and on television. Lunadei explained in a 1984 interview
that his childhood dream had been to be a clown. One notable exception
was his role as the unscrupulous financier Arteche in Fernando Ayala's
tragicomic Plata dulce (Sweet Money, 1982), whose title referred to
the economic bubble and collapse caused by José Alfredo MartÃnez de
Hoz's financial deregulation policies of the late 1970s.
Argentine actor. He is considered as one of the most versatile actors
of his generation, and is best known for his work in Argentine
comedy.Lunadei was born in Rome in 1938. His mother was a seamstress
and his father a brick mason, and the young Lunadei first developed an
interest in acting when at age five, his parents introduced him to the
cinema and theater. The family struggled during World War II, however,
and his mother emigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Gianni
arrived in 1950, followed by his father shortly afterward.He debuted
in the local theater in 1954 playing George in a local production of
Arthur Miller's All My Sons, and was later cast in Seán O'Casey's The
Shadow of a Gunman and Anton Chekhov's Platonov. His career on the
stage flourished, and he worked as a resident actor in the National
Comedy for eleven years, and in the General San MartÃn Theatre for
six. Beyond the stage, he had a turn as Count Dracula in a 1968
made-for-television special starring veteran horror film actor Narciso
Ibáñez Menta. Among Lunadei's notable stage roles from this era
include those in Peter Weiss' Marat/Sade, Carlo Goldoni's Servant of
Two Masters, as well as the title role in Pantaleon, a commedia
dell'arte work by Argentine playwright Villanueva Cosse. This latter
role won Lunadei the city of Mar del Plata's "Star of the Sea" in 1975
with co-star China Zorilla. He earned a Molière Prize for this role,
and won a second one in 1977. He married actress Stella Maris Lanzani,
and they had four children.Lunadei ventured into Argentine cinema in
1976 with a minor part in Carlos Galettini's tragedy Juan que reÃa
(Juan Who Once Laughed). He had a leading role in Manuel Antin's Allá
lejos y hace tiempo (Long Ago and Far Away, 1978); but in subsequent
years he became known for portraying manic characters in picaresque
comedy films and on television. Lunadei explained in a 1984 interview
that his childhood dream had been to be a clown. One notable exception
was his role as the unscrupulous financier Arteche in Fernando Ayala's
tragicomic Plata dulce (Sweet Money, 1982), whose title referred to
the economic bubble and collapse caused by José Alfredo MartÃnez de
Hoz's financial deregulation policies of the late 1970s.
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