Editing Massimo Troisi

{{Short description|Italian actor, film director, and poet (1953–1994)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{Expand Italian|topic=bio|Massimo Troisi|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name         = Massimo Troisi
| image        = Troisi.jpg
| caption      = Troisi in 1989
| birth_date   = {{birth date|df=yes|1953|02|19}}
| birth_place  = [[San Giorgio a Cremano]], Italy
| death_date   = {{death date and age|df=yes|1994|06|04|1953|02|19}}
| death_place  = [[Rome]], Italy
| height       = {{convert|1.78|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| occupation   = {{flatlist|
*Actor
*screenwriter
*film director}}
| years_active = 1968–1994
}}

'''Massimo Troisi''' ({{IPA|it|ˈmassimo troˈiːzi}}; 19 February 1953 – 4 June 1994) was an Italian actor, [[cabaret|cabaret performer]], comedian, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his works in the films ''[[Ricomincio da tre|I'm Starting back from Three]]'' (1981) and ''[[Il Postino: The Postman]]'' (1994), for which he was posthumously nominated for two [[Academy Awards|Oscars]]. Nicknamed "the comedian of feelings",<ref>Chiacchiari Federico; Salvi Demetrio, ''Massimo Troisi. Il comico dei sentimenti'', Sentieri Selvaggi, 2011. {{ISBN|88-86883-01-3}}</ref> he is considered one of the most important actors of Italian theater and cinema.<ref>[http://www.unita.tv/focus/ricomincio-da-tre-ecco-a-voi-massimo-troisi Daniele Bova, “Ricomincio da Tre”, ecco a voi Massimo Troisi, L'Unità, 22 novembre 2015]</ref>

== Early years and TV star ==
Troisi was born into a large family in [[San Giorgio a Cremano]], a town near [[Naples]]. His father Alfredo was a [[train engineer]]. Some of his family experiences were later told in his first films.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Lynn |first=Gaya |date=2014-06-04 |title=Celebrating the Life of Il Postino’s Massimo Troisi: A Festival in His Memory |url=https://italoamericano.org/massimo-troisi/ |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=L'Italo-Americano – Italian American bilingual news source |language=en-US}}</ref> After secondary school, Troisi wrote some poems inspired by his favourite author, [[Pier Paolo Pasolini]], winning a youth poetry prize in his name, while also imitating him in sketches.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2024-06-04 |title=Massimo Troisi: The Heart of Neapolitan Art and Cinema |url=https://www.ilmessaggero.it/en/massimo_troisi_the_heart_of_neapolitan_art_and_cinema-8159942.html |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=www.ilmessaggero.it |language=en}}</ref> In 1969 he started to play in a small local theatre together with some childhood friends (including [[Lello Arena]] and [[:it:Enzo Decaro|Enzo Decaro]]).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Trois's increasingly serious heart problems began in his teenage years, after he suffered from a bout of [[rheumatic fever]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In 1976 he had to visit the United States for a heart valve operation, the expenses for which were paid with the help of his friends.

Troisi started his artistic career as a [[cabaret]] showman in 1972, as a member of the comic trio called "I Saraceni" ("The Saracens") and, later, "La Smorfia" (from the name of the "book of the numbers" traditionally used in Naples for [[lottery]] and [[tombola (raffle)|tombola]], but also meaning "the face", as in "to make a face"). His mates were De Caro and Arena. They gained national fame on the radio and increased it consistently from 1977 onwards eventually becoming TV stars with the shows ''Non Stop'', ''La sberla'' (1978) and ''Luna Park'' (1979). Troisi soon gained the status of leader of the trio. He was noted for his use of facial mimicry and of apparently confused speech—in these he drew inspiration from such famous figures of Neapolitan comedy as [[Totò]], and [[Eduardo De Filippo|Eduardo]] and [[Peppino De Filippo]].

== Cinema ==
Troisi wrote, directed, and starred in his first film, ''[[Ricomincio da tre]]'' ("I Start Over from Three") in 1981. He achieved wide success and critical praise, establishing himself as one of the most talented new Italian directors of the 1980s. Like his second film, ''Ricomincio da tre'' is centered on the troublesome love life of a Neapolitan character, partly inspired by Troisi's youth, as well as featuring Lello Arena. ''Scusate il ritardo'', similar to the preceding one, was released in 1983, and had [[Giuliana De Sio]] as co-star.

Troisi starred opposite [[Roberto Benigni]] in ''[[Nothing Left to Do But Cry|Non ci resta che piangere]]'' (1984), in which they play two friends who are accidentally transported back in time to the 15th century; there they meet [[Leonardo da Vinci]] and, upon realising which age they are in, travel to Spain to try to stop [[Christopher Columbus]] from discovering the Americas.

After some small acting roles, in 1987 Troisi directed ''[[Le vie del Signore sono finite]]'', set during the Fascist era. The film won a Silver Ribbon for best screenplay. In the following years, he starred alongside [[Marcello Mastroianni]], in [[Ettore Scola]]'s ''[[Splendor (1989 film)|Splendor]]'' (1989), ''[[What Time Is It? (film)|Che ora è?]]'' (1989, who earned him and Mastroianni the [[Volpi Cup for Best Actor]]) and ''[[Captain Fracassa's Journey|Il viaggio di Capitan Fracassa]]'' (1990). His last film as director (also as screenwriter and actor) was ''[[Pensavo fosse amore, invece era un calesse]]'' (1991), again centering on the everyday difficulties of love between a man and a woman (portrayed by [[Francesca Neri]]).

== ''Il Postino'' and death ==
Troisi came to international fame through the success of ''[[Il Postino: The Postman]]'', directed by [[Michael Radford]]. While working with an increasingly weakened heart from his teenage bout with rheumatic fever, Troisi died in 1994 of a heart attack in his sister's house at [[Infernetto]], [[Rome]], 12 hours after the camera stopped working and main filming on ''Il Postino'' had finished. It was reported that he postponed surgery to complete the film.<ref>{{cite news|last=Laurino|first=Maria|title=FILM; A Postman, a Poet, an Actor's Farewell|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F6061FFE3D590C728DDDAF0894DD494D81|access-date=21 March 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=11 June 1995}}</ref>
Troisi was just 41.

Years before he had scheduled a heart transplant but did not proceed with it, telling Radford: "You know, I don’t really want this new heart. You know why. Because the heart is the centre of emotion, and an actor is a man of emotion. Who knows what kind of an actor I’m going to be with someone else’s heart inside of me."<ref name=":0" />

Troisi was [[List of posthumous Academy Award winners and nominees|posthumously nominated]] for Academy Awards for [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] and [[Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)|Best Writing]] for ''Il Postino'', and was the sixth person to be posthumously nominated for an acting Academy Award. Earlier posthumous nominations were [[Jeanne Eagels]], [[James Dean]] (twice), [[Spencer Tracy]], [[Peter Finch]] (won) and [[Ralph Richardson]]. In 1996 he was also nominated for a [[49th_British_Academy_Film_Awards|BAFTA]] in the [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role|Best Actor in a Leading Role]] category. The film won [[BAFTA Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]] and [[BAFTA Award for Best Original Music|Best Original Music]] categories

[[Pino Daniele]] worked on the soundtracks of most of his films. [[Eduardo De Filippo]], the most prominent Italian dramatist of the 20th century with [[Luigi Pirandello]], said he was "a comedian of the future, rooted in the past".

== Filmography ==

=== Director ===
* ''[[Ricomincio da tre]]'' (1981)
* ''[[:it:Morto Troisi, viva Troisi!|Morto Troisi, viva Troisi!]]'' (1982, TV special)
* ''[[Scusate il ritardo]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Nothing Left to Do But Cry|Non ci resta che piangere]]'' (1984, with [[Roberto Benigni]])
* ''[[Le vie del Signore sono finite]]'' (1987)
* ''[[Pensavo fosse amore, invece era un calesse]]'' (1991)

=== Screenwriter ===
* ''[[Ricomincio da tre]]'' (1981)
* ''[[:it:Morto Troisi, viva Troisi!|Morto Troisi, viva Troisi!]]'' (1982)
* ''[[No grazie, il caffè mi rende nervoso]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Scusate il ritardo]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Nothing Left to Do But Cry|Non ci resta che piangere]]'' (1984)
* ''[[Le vie del Signore sono finite]]'' (1987)
* ''[[Pensavo fosse amore, invece era un calesse]]'' (1991)
* ''[[Il Postino: The Postman]]'' (1994)

=== Actor ===
* ''[[Ricomincio da tre]]'' (1981) – Gaetano
* ''[[:it:Morto Troisi, viva Troisi!|Morto Troisi, viva Troisi!]]'' (1982, TV Movie) – La salma / Il tecnico delle luci / Himself
* ''[[No Thanks, Coffee Makes Me Nervous|No grazie, il caffè mi rende nervoso]]'' (1982) – Troisi
* ''[[Scusate il ritardo]]'' (1983) – Vincenzo
* ''[["FF.SS." – Cioè: "...che mi hai portato a fare sopra a Posillipo se non mi vuoi più bene?"]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Nothing Left to Do But Cry|Non ci resta che piangere]]'' (1984) – Mario
* ''[[Hotel Colonial]]'' (1986) – Werner
* ''[[Le vie del Signore sono finite]]'' (1987) – Camillo
* ''[[Splendor (1989 film)|Splendor]]'' (1989) – Luigi
* ''[[What Time Is It? (film)|Che ora è?]]'' (1989) – Michele, the son
* ''[[Captain Fracassa's Journey|Il viaggio di Capitan Fracassa]]'' (1990) – Pulcinella
* ''[[Pensavo fosse amore, invece era un calesse]]'' (1991) – Tommaso
* ''[[Il Postino: The Postman]]'' (1994) – Mario Ruoppolo (final film role)
==In popular culture==

In 2023, a documentary film on Troisi, titled as ''[[Massimo Troisi: Somebody Down There Likes Me]]'' was made directed by [[Mario Martone]]. The film had its premiere at [[73rd Berlin International Film Festival]] on 17 February 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/436857/ |title= The Berlinale adds eight new titles to its Berlinale Special strand, announces full Berlinale Shorts line-up |first= Davide  |last= Abbatescianni |date=16 January 2023|access-date=17 February 2023 |website= Cineuropa |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.berlinale.de/en/2023/programme/202315071.html|title=Massimo Troisi: Somebody Down There Likes Me|website=[[Berlin International Film Festival]]|access-date=17 February 2023}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb name|id=0873385|name=Massimo Troisi}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021128080142/http://noncirestachericordarti.too.it/ A website for those who hold Massimo in their hearts]

{{David di Donatello Best Actor}}
{{Nastro d'Argento Best New Director}}
{{Volpi Cup for Best Actor}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Troisi, Massimo}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Italian male film actors]]
[[Category:Italian male comedians]]
[[Category:Italian cabaret performers]] 
[[Category:Italian film directors]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian screenwriters]]
[[Category:Italian male screenwriters]]
[[Category:People from San Giorgio a Cremano]]
[[Category:Male actors from Campania]]
[[Category:David di Donatello winners]]
[[Category:Nastro d'Argento winners]]
[[Category:Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian comedians]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian male writers]]