Umberto Sclanizza (1893â€"1951) was an Italian theatre and cinema
actor from Friuli Venezia Giulia. His film work straddles a period in
Italian cinema, 1936â€"1943, when the industry was largely devoted to
the production of mildly propagandistic works, such as Il Re
d'Inghilterra non paga (The King of England Will Not Pay) (1941). This
type of old-fashioned classical drama, often infused with
thinly-veiled Axis sympathies, was to indirectly pave the way for the
Italian Neorealism movement, which rejected the melodrama style and
consigned it to the industry's past.Umberto Sclanizza was born in
Friuli, Italy on 26 February 1893, of Slavic (Slovenian) and noble
origins. His parents separated when he was a child, and his father
Vittorio took him and his sister Iole to Buenos Aires, Argentina,
where Vittorio set up in business among the enormous Italian community
there. Here Umberto was drawn to the theatre and began training as an
actor.In 1915 Italy joined the Allied side in the First World War, and
passage was arranged to take young migrant Italians back to their
native country to fight. Umberto Sclanizza served in the Army as a
front line cook during the war.He decided to remain in Italy after the
war, and began working in touring theatre. Through the theatre company
he met and married Maria Papa, an actor from the opposite end of Italy
(Rosarno, Calabria) who came from a family involved in the theatre for
many generations. Three children Scilla Sclaviza (aka Scilla
Sclanizza) (1926â€"2006), Mario Sclaniza (aka Mario Sclanizza)
(1927â€"1993), Iole Sclanizza (1928-2015) were born of the marriage,
and a fourth died - along with the mother - during childbirth, around
1930.
actor from Friuli Venezia Giulia. His film work straddles a period in
Italian cinema, 1936â€"1943, when the industry was largely devoted to
the production of mildly propagandistic works, such as Il Re
d'Inghilterra non paga (The King of England Will Not Pay) (1941). This
type of old-fashioned classical drama, often infused with
thinly-veiled Axis sympathies, was to indirectly pave the way for the
Italian Neorealism movement, which rejected the melodrama style and
consigned it to the industry's past.Umberto Sclanizza was born in
Friuli, Italy on 26 February 1893, of Slavic (Slovenian) and noble
origins. His parents separated when he was a child, and his father
Vittorio took him and his sister Iole to Buenos Aires, Argentina,
where Vittorio set up in business among the enormous Italian community
there. Here Umberto was drawn to the theatre and began training as an
actor.In 1915 Italy joined the Allied side in the First World War, and
passage was arranged to take young migrant Italians back to their
native country to fight. Umberto Sclanizza served in the Army as a
front line cook during the war.He decided to remain in Italy after the
war, and began working in touring theatre. Through the theatre company
he met and married Maria Papa, an actor from the opposite end of Italy
(Rosarno, Calabria) who came from a family involved in the theatre for
many generations. Three children Scilla Sclaviza (aka Scilla
Sclanizza) (1926â€"2006), Mario Sclaniza (aka Mario Sclanizza)
(1927â€"1993), Iole Sclanizza (1928-2015) were born of the marriage,
and a fourth died - along with the mother - during childbirth, around
1930.
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