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Alvaro Vitali

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Alvaro Vitali
Vitali in Federico Fellini's film Roma (1972)
Born(1950-02-03)3 February 1950
Rome, Italy
Died24 June 2025(2025-06-24) (aged 75)
Rome, Italy
OccupationActor
Years active1969–2025
Spouse
Stefania Corona
​
(m. 2006)​
Children1

Alvaro Vitali (Italian: [alˈvaːro viˈtaːli]; 3 February 1950 – 24 June 2025) was an Italian actor and comedian, best known for portraying the character Pierino in a series of Italian comedy films during the 1980s.

Life and career

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Born in Rome, Vitali was the son of a small construction company owner and a Titanus studio worker.[1] He left the high school to work as an electrician.[2] Spotted by Federico Fellini during an audition, he made his film debut with a small part in Satyricon (1969), before taking on increasingly more prominent roles in subsequent Fellini films such as The Clowns, Roma, and Amarcord.[3]

In the 1970s, Vitali became one of the major stars in the commedia sexy all'italiana genre.[4][3][5] In the early 1980s, starting from Pierino contro tutti, he had a personal success in a series of films featuring Pierino, a Little John variation.[3][4] During the same decade, his success began to decline, and opportunities to work became increasingly scarce.[3] In the 2000s his career was briefly relaunched by the Canale 5 satirical show Striscia la notizia, where he portrayed a comic version of Jean Todt and other humorous characters.[2][6] In 2006, he took part in the reality show La fattoria, the Italian version of The Farm, retiring soon after because of his asthma.[2]

Vitali's style was characterized by "exaggerated facial expressions, strong physicality, and slapstick-style comic timing".[6] He has been described as "probably one of the most underrated [Italian] film actors, deserving renewed recognition".[3]

Personal life and death

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Vitali was married twice and had a son, Ennio, from his first marriage.[1] He considered himself Roman Catholic.[7]

On 24 June 2025, Vitali died in Rome from a recurrent bronchopneumonia, for which he had been hospitalized two weeks earlier. He was 75.[8]

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Alvaro Vitali morto a Roma, l'attore aveva 75 anni. Il cinema italiano piange Pierino". Il Messaggero (in Italian). 24 June 2025. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Chimera, Patrizia (24 June 2025). "Alvaro Vitali è morto: addio all'attore di "Pierino", aveva 75 anni". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e Poppi, Roberto; Lancia, Enrico (2003). "Vitali, Alvaro". Gli Attori Vol. 2 M-z (in Italian). Gremese Editore. p. 282. ISBN 978-88-8440-269-1.
  4. ^ a b Galici, Francesca (24 June 2025). "Morto Alvaro Vitali, il celebre "Pierino" della commedia italiana". Il Giornale. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  5. ^ Coppola, Alessio (14 April 2022). "Alvaro Vitali: la carriera di Pierino". True News. (in Italian). Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  6. ^ a b "È morto Alvaro Vitali". Rolling Stone Italia (in Italian). 24 June 2025. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  7. ^ Giordano, Lucio (8 September 2023). "Ho avuto un ictus, ero senza speranze: poi ho invocato Dio e Lui mi ha salvato". Dipiù. No. 36. pp. 86–89.
  8. ^ "È morto a Roma Alvaro Vitali, il cinema piange Pierino". ansa.it. ansa.it. 24 June 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
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