Pippo Franco
Encyclopedia
Pippo Franco is an Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 comic, television presenter, and singer. He made his name first as a musician in the early 1960s, and in the late 1960s began a career in film, starring in a great number of commedia sexy all'italiana, the "sexy comedy" subgenre of Italian comedy
Commedia all'italiana
Commedia all'italiana or Italian-style comedy is an Italian film genre. It is widely considered to have started with Mario Monicelli's I soliti ignoti in 1958 and derives its name from the title of Pietro Germi's Divorzio all'italiana .-Stars:Vittorio Gassman, Ugo...

. In the 1970s he expanded into television, acting in TV movies and presenting variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...

s. His type of comedy borrows heavily from cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...

. Throughout his career he continued to sing, appearing many times at the San Remo Festival
Festival della canzone italiana
The Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo is a popular Italian song contest, held annually in the city of Sanremo, in Italy, and consisting of a competition amongst previously unreleased songs...

. He has made children's music as well, and has co-written three books on (linguistic) humor.

Biography

Franco was born in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 to an Irpinia
Irpinia
Irpinia is a region of the Apennine Mountains around Avellino, a town in Campania, South Italy about 40 km east of Naples...

n family, who had moved to Rome from Vallata
Vallata
Vallata is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy....

, in the Province of Avellino
Province of Avellino
The Province of Avellino is a province in the Campania region of Italy. The area is typified by many small towns and villages scattered across the province; in fact only two towns have a population over 20,000; its capital city Avellino and Ariano Irpino....

.

Cinema

Franco's first role in a box office hit was 1969's Nell'anno del Signore, directed by Luigi Magni
Luigi Magni
Luigi Magni is an Italian screenwriter and film director active since 1959 as a screenwriter and 1968 as a film director.-Screenwriter:*La cambiale *Il corazziere *Gli attendenti...

, and starring "an exceptional cast of actors" including Franco, Nino Manfredi
Nino Manfredi
Nino Manfredi was an Italian actor, one of the most prominent in the commedia all'italiana genre....

, and Claudia Cardinale
Claudia Cardinale
Claudia Cardinale is an Italian actress, and has appeared in some of the most prominent European films of the 1960s and 1970s. The majority of Cardinale's films have been either Italian or French...

.

In the 1970s and 1980s he starred in a large number of Italian comedies
Commedia all'italiana
Commedia all'italiana or Italian-style comedy is an Italian film genre. It is widely considered to have started with Mario Monicelli's I soliti ignoti in 1958 and derives its name from the title of Pietro Germi's Divorzio all'italiana .-Stars:Vittorio Gassman, Ugo...

, many of them "erotic comedies," such as the 1972 Mariano Laurenti
Mariano Laurenti
Mariano Laurenti is an Italian film director. He directed 50 films between 1966 and 1999.He was born in Rome, Italy.-External links:...

 production Quel gran pezzo dell'Ubalda tutta nuda e tutta calda, a semi-medieval erotic spoof (a "decamerotic" film), distributed in the US as Ubalda, all naked and warm, in which Franco starred (with "undeniable comic verve") alongside Edwige Fenech
Edwige Fenech
Edwige Fenech is a French-born Italian actress and film producer.- Biography :Fenech was born in Bône , in French Algeria to a Maltese father and Sicilian mother. From the late 1960s to early 1980s, Fenech starred in many types of European movies...

, the Algerian-born last "popular incarnation of the 'sex bombs' so in vogue twenty years earlier." The success of Ubalda was followed by another successful movie with Franco and Edwige, Sergio Martino
Sergio Martino
Sergio Martino is an Italian film director and producer, notable for his contributions to the giallo genre.Martino is the brother of producer Luciano Martino. They collaborated frequently in their respective professions...

's Giovannona Coscialunga disonorata con onore (1973). Franco again performed with her in 1980, in La profesora se desnuda, and in 1982, in Vicios Morbosos. In 1972, he had a part in Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...

's Italian/American comedy Avanti!
Avanti!
Avanti! is a 1972 American/Italian comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder. The film starred Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L...

, alongside Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...

 and Juliet Mills. He directed his first movie in 1981, La gatta da pelare, for which he also wrote the score and the script.

Television

Franco began a career in television in 1971 with Riuscirà il cav. papà Ubu?, directed by Vito Molinari and Giuseppe Recchia, and from then on played in a number of made-for-television movies.

Franco has appeared on numerous Italian TV shows as comic and as presenter. In 1980, he presented the weekly television show of the drawing of the Italian lottery, with Laura Troschel (then his wife) and Claudio Cecchetto. In the 1990s he appeared on the comedy show La sai l'ultima?, and in the 2000s he presented the variety show Bellissima: Cabaret Anticrisi, in cooperation with the variety company Il Bagaglino.

Music

Franco began singing and playing guitar at the end of the 1950s, and started writing songs with surreal lyrics. One of his groups, The Penguins, made its debut in 1960 in the musicarello by Mario Mattoli
Mario Mattoli
Mario Mattoli was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 86 films between 1934 and 1966....

 for Appuntamento a Ischia
Appuntamento a Ischia
Appuntamento a Ischia is a 1960 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Domenico Modugno.-Cast:* Domenico Modugno - Mimmo* Antonella Lualdi - Mirella Argente* Maria Letizia Gazzoni - Letizia* Carlo Croccolo - Carlette...

, and accompanied Mina Mazzini on three songs, "La nonna Magdalena," "Il cielo in una stanza," and "Una zebra a pois."

In 1968 he scored a minor hit with the single "Vedendo una foto di Bob Dylan," which made fun of the gap between beatnik
Beatnik
Beatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...

s and their parents.

As a singer he recorded more than a dozen albums, including Cara Kiri (1971), Bededè (1975), Al cabaret (1977), Praticamente, no? (1978), Pippo nasone and Vietato ai minori (1981). One of his most famous song is Cesso.

His songs were recorded on more than fifteen 45 rpm vinyl records, including several hits like La licantropia (1969), which participated in Cantagiro
Cantagiro
Cantagiro was an Italian summer festival held from 1962 to 1972 and 1990 to 1993. It had three categories, A for famous artists, B for newcomers and C for groups. The "Father" of the competition was Ezio Radaelli.- Cantagiro :-Nuovo Cantagiro:...

 1969.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Franco began playing and composing children's musicSi dedica successivamente a incidere dischi destinati al pubblico infantile, as well as music for the shows by the Italian lottery.

Between 1979 and 1984 he was an annual performer and presenter at the popular music festival
Festival della canzone italiana
The Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo is a popular Italian song contest, held annually in the city of Sanremo, in Italy, and consisting of a competition amongst previously unreleased songs...

 in San Remo
Sanremo
Sanremo or San Remo is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. Founded in Roman times, the city is best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival...

. He returned there in 2008.

Books

With Antonio Di Stefano he wrote three books with stories and commentaries on (unintentionally) humorous linguistic blunders and mishaps, Non prenda niente tre volte al giorno (2002), Qui chiavi subito (2006), and L'occasione fa l'uomo ragno. Strafalcioni, cartelli, scritte sui muri e altri capolavori di umorismo involontario (2007), all published by Mondadori
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore is the biggest publishing company in Italy.-History:Founded by the 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori in 1907 to publish the magazine titled Luce!, it soon became an important publisher. Its headquarters are in Milan....

.

Politics

In the 2006 Italian general election
Italian general election, 2006
In the Italian general election, 2006 for the renewal of the two Chambers of the Parliament of Italy held on April 9 and April 10, 2006 the incumbent prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the center-right House of Freedoms, was narrowly defeated by Romano Prodi, leader of the center-left The...

 he was a candidate for the Italian Senate
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...

 from the list of Christian Democracy for Autonomies in Lazio. Despite the publicly stated support of Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...

, Pippo Franco's party got only 0.6% of votes in Lazio and therefore it was not elected.

Movies

  • 1968 - Chimera, directed by Ettore Maria Fizzarotti
  • 1969 - Nell'anno del Signore, directed by Luigi Magni
    Luigi Magni
    Luigi Magni is an Italian screenwriter and film director active since 1959 as a screenwriter and 1968 as a film director.-Screenwriter:*La cambiale *Il corazziere *Gli attendenti...

  • 1969 - L'odio è il mio Dio, directed by Claudio Gora
    Claudio Gora
    Claudio Gora was an Italian actor and film director.He was a particularly prolific actor making some 155 appearances in film and television over nearly 60 years from 1939 to 1997...

  • 1969 - Zingara, directed by Mariano Laurenti
    Mariano Laurenti
    Mariano Laurenti is an Italian film director. He directed 50 films between 1966 and 1999.He was born in Rome, Italy.-External links:...

  • 1969 - Il giovane normale, directed by Dino Risi
  • 1969 - Pensiero d'amore, directed by Mario Amendola
    Mario Amendola
    Mario Amendola was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He wrote for 153 films between 1941 and 1987. He also directed 37 films between 1949 and 1975...

  • 1970 - Basta guardarla, directed by Luciano Salce
    Luciano Salce
    Luciano Salce was an Italian film director and actor. His 1962 film Le pillole di Ercole was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival....

  • 1970 - W le donne, directed by Aldo Grimaldi
  • 1970 - Il debito coniugale, directed by Franco Prosperi
  • 1971 - Mazzabubù... Quante corna stanno quaggiù?, directed by Mariano Laurenti
  • 1972 - Boccaccio, directed by Bruno Corbucci
    Bruno Corbucci
    Bruno Corbucci was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He was the younger brother of Sergio Corbucci, and wrote many of his films. He was born in Rome, where he also died....

  • 1972 - Quel gran pezzo dell'Ubalda tutta nuda e tutta calda, directed by Mariano Laurenti
  • 1972 - Avanti!
    Avanti!
    Avanti! is a 1972 American/Italian comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder. The film starred Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L...

    , directed by Billy Wilder
    Billy Wilder
    Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...

  • 1973 - Rugantino, directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile
    Pasquale Festa Campanile
    Pasquale Festa Campanile was an Italian screenwriter, film director and novellist. He was born at Melfi and died in Rome.- Director :* Un tentativo sentimentale * La nonna Sabella...

  • 1973 - Furto di sera bel colpo si spera, directed by Mariano Laurenti
  • 1973 - Patroclooo! E il soldato Camillone, grande grosso e frescone, directed by Mariano Laurenti
  • 1973 - Giovannona Coscialunga disonorata con onore, directed by Sergio Martino
    Sergio Martino
    Sergio Martino is an Italian film director and producer, notable for his contributions to the giallo genre.Martino is the brother of producer Luciano Martino. They collaborated frequently in their respective professions...

  • 1974 - La via dei babbuini, directed by Luigi Magni
  • 1974 - La sbandata, directed by Alfredo Malfatti and Salvatore Samperi
    Salvatore Samperi
    Salvatore Samperi was an Italian film director. His 1973 film Malicious was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival and his 1979 film Ernesto was entered into the 29th Berlin International Film Festival.-Selected filmography:* Come Play with Me * Malicious * Ernesto...

  • 1976 - Hanno ucciso un altro bandito, directed by Guglielmo Garroni
  • 1976 - Remo e Romolo - Storia di due figli di una lupa, directed by Mario Castellacci and Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 1977 - Nerone, directed by Mario Castellacci and Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 1978 - L'inquilina del piano di sopra, directed by Ferdinando Baldi
    Ferdinando Baldi
    Ferdinando Baldi was an Italian film director, film producer and screenwriter. He was born on 19 May 1927 in Cava dei Tirreni, in the Province of Salerno.-Career:...

  • 1978 - Scherzi da prete, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 1979 - Tutti a squola, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 1979 - L'imbranato, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 1980 - Arrivano i bersaglieri, directed by Luigi Magni
  • 1980 - Il casinista, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 1980 - Ciao marziano, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 1980 - Il ficcanaso (also known as La profesora se desnuda), directed by Bruno Corbucci
    Bruno Corbucci
    Bruno Corbucci was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He was the younger brother of Sergio Corbucci, and wrote many of his films. He was born in Rome, where he also died....

  • 1980 - Zucchero, miele e peperoncino, directed by Sergio Martino
  • 1981 - La gatta da pelare, directed and scored by Pippo Franco
  • 1982 - Ricchi, ricchissimi, praticamente in mutande (also known as Vicios Morbosos), directed by Sergio Martino
  • 1982 - Attenti a quei P2, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 1983 - Sfrattato cerca casa equo canone, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 1983 - Due strani papà, directed by Mariano Laurenti
  • 1983 - Il tifoso, l'arbitro e il calciatore, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 1992 - Gole ruggenti, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 2010 - Il Numero 2, directed by Vito Cea


Television

  • 1971 - Riuscirà il cav. papà Ubu?, directed by Vito Molinari and Giuseppe Recchia
  • 1973 - Dove sta Zazà, directed by Antonello Falqui
  • 1975 - Mazzabubù, directed by Antonello Falqui
  • 1978 - Il Ribaltone, directed by Antonello Falqui
  • 1979 - C'era una volta Roma, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 1979 - I racconti di fantascienza di Blasetti, episode "L'assassino," directed by Alessandro Blasetti
    Alessandro Blasetti
    Alessandro Blasetti was an Italian film director who influenced Italian neorealism with the film Quattro passi fra le nuvole...

  • 1990 - Senator, directed by Gianfrancesco Lazotti
    Gianfrancesco Lazotti
    Gianfrancesco Lazotti is an Italian film screenwriter and director. Born in Rome, Lazotti studied at DAMS in Bologna and apprenticed as assistant director to many well-known Italian directors, including Ettore Scola and Dino Risi. Meanwhile he launched his own career directing commercials and...

  • 1997 - Ladri si nasce, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 1998 - Ladri si diventa, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 1999 - Tre stelle, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 2000 - La casa delle beffe, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore
  • 2007 - Di che peccato sei?, directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore


Singles

  • 1967 - "Vedendo una foto di Bob Dylan"/"Mister Custer," Arc, AN 4111 (7")
  • 1969 - "Qualsiasi cosa faccia"/"La licantropia," Dischi Ricordi, SRL 10557 (7")
  • 1976 - "Praticamente no"/"I scherzi stupidi," Cinevox
    Cinevox
    Cinevox is an Italian record label specializing in the release of motion picture soundtrack albums. Founded in 1966, the label has released more than 200 titles, including numerous works by Ennio Morricone, Pino Donaggio, and various Dario Argento movie soundtracks composed by Goblin and Keith...

    , SC 1086 (7")
  • 1977 - "Isotta"/"Ninna Nanna Nonna," Cinevox, SC 1103 (7")
  • 1977 - "Quanto sei bella Roma"/"L'autostop," Cinevox, SC 1099 (7" - single by Laura Troschel featuring Pippo Franco)
  • 1977 - "Il Bello e la Bestia," Cinevox (7" - single by Laura Troschel featuring Pippo Franco)
  • 1978 - "Di questo bel terzetto"/"Pippo Nonna," Cinevox, SC 1116 (7")
  • 1979 - "Mi scappa la pipì, papà"/"Dai compra," Cinevox, SC 1124 (7")
  • 1979 - "Ammazza quant è bra"/"Andiamocene a Casa," Lupus, LUN 4902 (7" - single from C'era una volta Roma)
  • 1979 - "Tu per me sei come Roma" (with Laura Troschel), Cinevox, SC 1135
  • 1980 - "Dai lupone dai"/"La gente mi vuole male," Cinevox, SC 1141
  • 1980 - "La puntura"/"Sono Pippo col naso," Lupus, LUN 4906 (7")
  • 1980 - "Prendi la fortuna per la coda"/"Aria di festa," Lupus, LUN 4912
  • 1980 - "Mandami una cartolina"/"Lezione di inglese," Lupus, LUN 4914
  • 1982 - "Che fico!"/"Ma guarda un po," Lupus, LUN 4926
  • 1983 - "Chì Chì Chì Cò Cò Cò"/"Caaasa," Lupus, LUN 4943 (7")
  • 1984 - "Pinocchio Chiò"/"La pantofola," Dischi Ricordi, SRL 11000 (7")
  • 1986 - "Pepè"/"Pollice," Cinevox, SC 1194
  • 1988 - "Il ballo marocchino"/"Strum," Five Record, FM 13206 (7")
  • 1988 - "Due risate"/"Biberon," LGO Music, N-012190

LP

  • 1968 - I Personaggi Di Pippo Franco
  • 1971 - Cara Kiri, Dischi Ricordi, SMRL 6085; Cinevox, ORL 8053
  • 1975 - Bededè, Cinevox, SC33/22
  • 1977 - Al cabaret, Cinevox, SC33/32 (theatrical show with Bombolo and Sergio Leonardi)
  • 1978 - Praticamente no, Cinevox, ORL8301
  • 1979 - Busti al Pincio, Cinevox, CAB2001 (theatrical show)
  • 1979 - C'era una volta Roma, Cinevox, CAB2005 (theatrical show with Laura Troschel)
  • 1981 - Vietato ai minori, Lupus, LULP 14905
  • 1984 - Pippomix, Dischi Ricordi, TSMRL6319 (collection)
  • Super Pippo Franco Bambini, WEA
    WEA
    The Wea are a Native American tribe.WEA may refer to:* Wanganui East Athletic, a New Zealand association football club* Warner-Elektra-Atlantic, another/former name for Warner Music Group...

    , EAN 0008696 (collection of singles and b-sides)


Reference: Franco discography

Books

  • 1981 - Il matto in casa, Editoriale Due I.
  • 2001 - Pensieri per vivere. Itinerario di evoluzione interiore, Edizioni Mediterranee. ISBN 88-272-1418-6
  • 2003 - Non prenda niente tre volte al giorno. Il lato comico dell'esperienza umana (with Antonio Di Stefano), Mondadori. ISBN 88-04-51275-X
  • 2006 - Qui chiavi subito. Insegne, annunci, cognomi e strafalcioni tutti da ridere (with Antonio Di Stefano), Mondadori. ISBN 88-04-53597-0
  • 2007 - L'occasione fa l'uomo ragno. Strafalcioni, cartelli, scritte sui muri e altri capolavori di umorismo involontario (with Antonio Di Stefano), Mondadori. ISBN 88-04-56832-1

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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