Massimo Boldi


Massimo Antonio Boldi is an Italian stand-up comedian and actor.

Biography

Boldi was born in Luino on 23 July 1945. In 1955 his family moved to Milan, where he joined evening classes and began working as a window-dresser and then as a door-to-door salesman for a pastry company. In 1968 he started performing in cabaret. In the 1970s he did not perform, but managed a bar-latteria in Milan. On September 29, 1973, he married Marisa Selo. Their marriage lasted until Selo's death on April 8, 2004.

Artistic careers

Drummer

Boldi entered show business as a drummer. He played in the group I Mimitoki before joining the better-known La pattuglia azzurra, which was headed by a young Claudio Lippi. He went on to be a drummer in Gino Paoli's orchestra and many other bands.

Stand-up comedian

Boldi's continued his drumming career at the Derby night club, established in 1959 as a jazz venue by Gianni Bongiovanni and his wife Angela. Among the artists he worked with were Enzo Jannacci, Cochi and Renato, Giorgio Gaber, Bruno Lauzi, Umberto Bindi, Gino Paoli, Paolo Villaggio, Walter Waldi and Enrico Intra, joint founder of the Derby Club. There, at the suggestion of Bongiovanni, he became a stand-up comedian, creating characters that soon became popular in the club and, after appearances on local television, outside. In those years he and Teo Teocoli performed as a duo, both in the Derby Club and on television.

Television career

On Antenna 3, a local television station in Legnano, Boldi and Teocoli performed "Non lo sapessi ma lo so", a program that was claimed to show the way for a new generation of comedians. Directed by Beppe Recchia, it was broadcast every Wednesday evening from 20:30 to midnight. The title came from a Boldi catch phrase that appeared in a song he wrote with his friends Enzo Jannacci and Paolo Beldì.
An ad-lib by Teocoli gave rise to Boldi's most famous and popular character, Massima Cipollino, the improbable, blundering presenter of a private newscast, in which he would take calls from the program director on a telephone on his desk, replying on air "Vvvvvvv....vvvaaaaaa Beneeeeeee!!!!!". He would then break the telephone while hanging up. After this, Boldi appeared in many programs on Italian national television, not always with Teocoli.
On the Rai Uno program Canzonissima, Boldi played one of his most successful characters, "Mario Vigorone", before moving on to the program A Tutto Gag, directed by Romolo Siena, in which Boldi played a Tuscan cook with the catch phrase "Come dite voi a Milano?". On the RAI he also made Saltimbanchi si muore, La Tappazzeria, and Fantastico 8, programs made under the management of Adriano Celentano. On Mediaset, he took part in Drive In, Risatissima, Grand Hotel, Sabato al circo, La strana coppia.
In Una rotonda sul mare, Boldi and Teocoli played a parody of the Diabolik stories. Boldi was the seemingly mad thief "Diaboldik", and Teocoli played a certain "Inspector Rinko", a clear reference to Inspector Ginko, the thief in the black leotard.
On Canale 5 Boldi took part in a season of Striscia la notizia, Scherzi a parte and - in 2008 with Lorella Cuccarini - an edition of La sai l'ultima?. Canale 5 also gave Boldi his first fictional television role, as Lorenzo Fumagalli in the series Un ciclone in famiglia, directed by Carlo Vanzina.

Cinema career

After some supporting roles in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Boldi had his first major success in Carlo Verdone's 1984 film I due carabinieri, and then with Scuola di ladri and Yuppies i Giovani di Successo.
In film, Boldi plays the typical Milan citizen, bourgeois and methodical, always prone to tachycardia. Some of his favourite expressions, such as "Bestia che dolore!", "Mi hai fatto un male pazzesco!", "Ciao Cipollino!", "Vavavavavava!" and "Non lo sapessi ma lo seppi!", have become popular catchphrases.

Boldi and De Sica

Boldi has co-starred with Christian De Sica in movies for about twenty years. Together they have made 24 movies, beginning with traditional Christmas ones including Vacanze di Natale, A spasso nel tempo, Paparazzi, Tifosi and Christmas in Love. Since separating from De Sica, Boldi has played in Olè, Matrimonio alle Bahamas and La fidanzata di papà .

In politics

In 1992 Boldi ran for the Partito Socialista Italiano in the elections. But this was a brief diversion, which he immediately abandoned to return to acting.

Selected filmography