Editing Terence Hill (section)

===Leading man===
Girotti had his first lead in ''Guaglione'' (1956). He could also be seen in ''Mamma sconosciuta'' (1956), ''I vagabondi delle stelle'' (1956), ''[[La grande strada azzurra]]'' (1956) with [[Yves Montand]] and [[Alida Valli]], and ''[[Lazzarella (film)|Lazzarella]]'' (1957).<ref>As a Comrade, He Could Have Been A Contender: [Review]
Holden, Stephen. New York Times 6 June 2001: E.1.</ref>

Girotti did ''[[Anna of Brooklyn]]'' (1958) with [[Gina Lollobrigida]], ''[[The Sword and the Cross]]'' (1958) with [[Yvonne de Carlo]] (playing [[Lazarus of Bethany]]), and a TV version of ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray]]'' (1958).<ref name="first">First American Film for Hill Thomas, Bob. Los Angeles Times 3 September 1976: f16</ref>

He had support parts in ''[[Il padrone delle ferriere]]'' (1959) with [[Virna Lisi]], ''Juke box - Urli d'amore'' (1959), and ''[[Hannibal (1959 film)|Hannibal]]'' (1959) with [[Victor Mature]] and Carlo Pedersoli, who would later become known as Bud Spencer. Girotti had the lead roles in ''Spavaldi e innamorati'' (1959) and ''[[Cerasella]]'' (1959), a teen comedy.

It was back to support roles with ''[[Carthage in Flames]]'' (1960), ''[[Un militare e mezzo]]'' (1960), and ''[[The Story of Joseph and His Brethren]]'' (1961) with [[Geoffrey Horne]] and [[Robert Morley]], directed by [[Irving Rapper]].<ref>CARTHAGE IN FLAMES "(Cartagine in Fiamme)"
Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 27, Iss. 312, (1 January 1960): 169.</ref>

Girotti had support parts in ''[[The Wonders of Aladdin]]'' (1961) with [[Donald O'Connor]] and directed by [[Henry Levin (film director)|Henry Levin]] and [[Mario Bava]], ''[[Pecado de amor (film)|Pecado de amor]]'' (1961), ''[[Seven Seas to Calais]]'' (1962) with [[Rod Taylor]], and ''[[The Shortest Day]]'' (1963).<ref name="first" /><ref>'ALADDIN' PERFECT FOR CHILD AUDIENCE
Stinson, Charles. Los Angeles Times 16 December 1961: B6.</ref>

Girotti secured a substantial supporting role in [[Luchino Visconti]]'s film epic ''[[The Leopard (1963 film)|The Leopard]]'' (1963) alongside [[Burt Lancaster]] and [[Alain Delon]], in which he unsuccessfully tries to court the daughter of Lancaster's character. During this time he studied classical literature for three years at an Italian university.<ref name="march" />