Totò
Acting
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.
Known for
Acting125
movieWe Are Cinema
2021
Self (archive footage)
movieCinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita
2021
Self (archive footage)
movieSiamo tutti Alberto Sordi?
2020
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
movieNaples '44
2016
Self (archive footage)
movieHow We Got the Italian Movie Business Into Trouble: The True Story of Franco and Ciccio
2004
Self (archive footage)
movieAntologia di Totò
1978
Totò (se stesso)
movieForza Italia!
1977
Self (archive footage)
movieUn sorriso, uno schiaffo, un bacio in bocca
1975
(archive footage)
movieCaprice Italian Style
1968
Anziano Signore / Iago
movieTutto Totò - Totò a Napoli
1967
Totò, la guida non autorizzata
movieTutto Totò - Totò Ciak
1967
Totò l'agente segreto
movieTutto Totò - Totò Ye Ye
1967
musicista capellone
movieIl latitante
1967
Gennaro La Pezza
movieTutto Totò - Il grande maestro
1967
Mardoccheo Stonatelli
movieThe Witches
1967
Ciancicato Miao (segment "La Terra vista dalla Luna")
movieThe Earth As Seen from the Moon
1967
Ciancicato Miao
movieTutto Totò - La scommessa
1967
Oberdan Lo Cascio
movieTutto Totò - Don Giovannino
1967
Barnaba Parmiggiani aka 'Babà'
movieTutto Totò - Premio Nobel
1967
il professor Serafino Bolletta
movieThe Treasure of San Gennaro
1966
Don Vincenzo
movieThe Hawks and the Sparrows
1966
Totò Innocenti / Frate Cicillo
movieRita the American Girl
1965
Serafino Benvenuti
movieThe Mandrake
1965
il frate
movieLatin Lovers
1965
Rag. Antonio Gargiulo (ep. Amore e morte)
movieBeautiful Families
1964
Filiberto Comanducci
movieWhat Ever Happened to Baby Toto?
1964
Totò Baby / il Padre
movieThe Commandant
1963
Col. Antonio Cavalli
movieGli onorevoli
1963
Antonio La Trippa
movieToto and Cleopatra
1963
Marc'Antonio / Totonno
movieTotò sexy
1963
Nini Cantachiaro
movieLe motorizzate
1963
Urbano Cacace (segment "Il Vigile Ignoto")
movieThe Monk of Monza
1963
Pasquale Cicciacalda / Don Manuel
movieTotò vs the Four
1963
commissario Antonio Saracino
movieThe Shortest Day
1963
frate bersagliere
movieTwo Colonels
1963
Colonnello Di Maggio
movieTotò e Peppino divisi a Berlino
1962
Antonio La Puzza / Amministratore di Canarinis
movieLo smemorato di Collegno
1962
lo smemorato
movieTotò diabolicus
1962
Galeazzo / Carlo / Scipione / Antonio / Laudomia / Pasquale
movieTotò versus Maciste
1962
Totokamen
movieThe Two Marshals
1961
Antonio Capurro
movieTotòtruffa '62
1961
Antonio LoRuffo
movieSua Eccellenza si fermò a mangiare
1961
Dott. Biagio Tanzarella
movieTotò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life
1961
Antonio Barbacane
movieHe Who Hesitates Is Lost
1960
Antonio Guardalavecchia
movieThe Passionate Thief
1960
Umberto 'Infortunio' Pennazzuto
movieLetto a tre piazze
1960
Antonio Di Cosimo
movieToto, Fabrizi and the Young People Today
1960
Cavalier Antonio Cocozza
movieSignori si nasce
1960
Ottone Degli Ulivi, detto Zazà
movieNoi duri
1960
L'Algerino
movieLa cambiale
1959
Cesare Posalaquaglia
movieYou're on Your Own
1959
Il nonno illuminato
movieThe Thieves
1959
Commissario Di Savio
movieThe Overtaxed
1959
Torquato Pezzella
movieToto in Madrid
1959
Totò Scorceletti
movieTotò in the Moon
1958
Pasquale Belafronte
movieToto in Paris
1958
Marchese Gastone de Chemantel / Chateau-Boiron / il vagabondo Totò
movieThe Law Is the Law
1958
Giuseppe La Paglia
movieLegs of Gold
1958
Barone Luigi Fontana
movieTotò, Peppino e le fanatiche
1958
Antonio Vignarello
movieBig Deal on Madonna Street
1958
Dante Cruciani
movieToto and Marcellino
1958
Il Professore
movieTotò, Vittorio and the Doctor
1957
Michele Spillone detto Mike
movieToto, Peppino, and the Hussy
1956
Antonio Caponi
movieTotò Double or Nothing?
1956
Duca Gagliardo della Forcoletta
movieThe Band of Honest Men
1956
Antonio Buonocore
movieIl coraggio
1955
Gennaro Vaccariello
movieRoman Tales
1955
Professor Semprini
movieDestinazione Piovarolo
1955
Antonio La Quaglia
movieAre We Men or Corporals?
1955
Totò Esposito
movieTotò all'inferno
1955
Antonio Marchi
movieToto and Carolina
1955
Antonio Caccavallo
movieTotò Seeks Peace
1954
Gennaro Piselli
movieThe Gold of Naples
1954
Don Saverio Petrillo (segment "Il guappo")
movieIl medico dei pazzi
1954
Felice Sciosciammocca
movieThe Three Thieves
1954
Tapioca
moviePoverty and Nobility
1954
Don Felice Sciosciammocca
movieThe Anatomy of Love
1954
Dionillo
movieWhere Is Freedom?
1954
Salvatore Lojacono
movieOf Life and Love
1954
Rosario Chiarchiaro
movieUna di quelle
1953
Rocco Bardelli
movieNeapolitan Turk
1953
Felice Sciosciammocca
movieMan, Beast and Virtue
1953
Prof. Paolino
movieToto and the Women
1952
Antonio Scaparro
movieToto and the Kings of Rome
1952
Ercole Pappalardo
movieTotó in color
1952
Antonio Scannagatti
movieCops and Robbers
1951
Ferdinando Esposito
movieSeven Hours of Troubles
1951
Totò De Pasquale
movieToto the Third Man
1951
Piero / Paolo / Totò
movie47 Talking Corpses
1950
Il barone Antonio Peletti
movieToto the Sheik
1950
Antonio Sapone
movieLe sei mogli di Barbablù
1950
Totò Esposito
movieTototarzan
1950
Antonio Della Buffas
movieSide Street Story
1950
Pasquale Miele
movieTotò le Mokò
1949
Antonio Lumaconi / Totò le Moko
movieThe Emperor of Capri
1949
Antonio De Fazio
movieTotò Looking for a House
1949
Beniamino Lomacchio
movieYvonne of the Night
1949
Nino, il fantasista
movieToto Tours Italy
1948
Prof. Totò Casamandrei
movieFifa e arena
1948
Nicolino Capece
movieTwo Little Orphans
1947
Gasparre
movieSlave Girl
1947
Gobbone il cammello (narratore)
movieThe Rape of the Sabine
1945
Aristide Tromboni
movieL'allegro fantasma
1941
Nicolino & Gelsomino & Antonino
movieSan Giovanni decollato
1940
Mastro Agostino Miciacio
movieAnimal Crackers
1939
Barone Tolomeo dei Tolomei
movieHands Off Me!
1937
Conte Toto di Torretota
Writing8
'A Livella
2025
Original Concept
movieIl coraggio
1955
Screenplay
movieAre We Men or Corporals?
1955
Screenplay, Story
movieTotò all'inferno
1955
Screenplay, Story
movieIl medico dei pazzi
1954
Screenplay