Sergio Tofano by Truus, Bob & Jan too! Via Flickr: Italian postcard by Ed. Art. Alberani. Portrait by Nanni. Behind Sergio Tòfano the character of Signor Buonaventura si shown, Tofano's popular creation. Giovanni Nanni (1888-1969) was a renowned Italian painter and illustrator of postcards, famous for his WWI postcard portraits of elegant ladies with capricious hats and his 1920s and 1930s Art Deco styled publicity for brands such as Olivetti, Pirelli, and Fernet Branca. Sergio Tòfano (20 August 1886 – 28 October 1973) was an Italian actor, director, playwright, scene designer and illustrator. Tofano was born in Rome. In 1909, he made his first appearance on stage with Ermete Novelli, then joined Virgilio Talli's company (1912–23). He soon specialized as a comic actor, giving his role a new elegance and complexity. He interpreted works of multiple authors going from Molnár to Shaw, from Romains to Pirandello, from Machiavelli to Molière, from Anton Checkov to Henrik Ibsen, Kaiser, an Bertolt Brecht. In 1924-26 Tofano worked with director and playwright Dario Niccodemi, and in 1927-1930 with Luigi Almirante and Giuditta Rissone, co-acting with Elsa Merlini, Vittorio De Sica, Evi Maltagliati, Gino Cervi and many others. During those years, he made his memorable performances as Doctor Knock in Jules Romains' homonymous play, and as Professor Toti in Luigi Pirandello's Pensaci, Giacomino!. He also led important theatrical firms. After the Second World War, he worked with the most important innovative stage directors such as Luchino Visconti and Giorgio Strehler . In 1917 Tofano invented, for a children's magazine, Il Corriere dei Piccoli, a famous character, Signor Bonaventura, whose adventures lasted for more than forty years. He used to sign as Sto. He wrote and illustrated several children's books and illustrated The Chess Set in the Mirror by Massimo Bontempelli. After a one off performance in the silent film Tigrana (Edouard Micheroux de Dillon, 1916), Tofano's film acting career really set off with his part of the usher Otello in the early sound film comedy La segretaria privata (Goffredo Alessandrini, 1931), starring Elsa Merlini and Nino Besozzi. Many other comedies at Cines-Pittaluga followed in the early 1930s, such as La telefonista (1932) with Isa Pola and Paprika (1933) with Elsa Merlini, while he had the lead in O la borsa, o la vita (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1933) and in Seconda B (Goffredo Alessandrini, 1934). Over the years, Tofano would work with a wide range of directors such as Mario Mattoli, Luigi Comencini, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Nanni Loy, Bernardo Bertolucci and Mario Monicelli. He would also direct two films, Cenerentola e il Signor Bonaventura (1941), shot at the Pisorno studios in Tirrenia, and Gian Burrasca (1943). From the start of television in Italy, Tofano acted in teleplays in the 1950s and 1960s such as Orgoglio e pregiudizio (Pride and Prejudice, 1957), L'idiota (The idiot, 1959), Mastro don Gesualdo (1964), Il conte di Montecristo (1966), I promessi sposi (The Betrothed, 1967), Le mie prigioni (1968, after the eponymous novel by Silvio Pellico), and I fratelli Karamazov (The Brothers Karamazov, 1969), plus two performances in the first (1965) and third (1968) season of Le inchieste del commissario Maigret. Tofano married in 1923 with actress Rosetta Cavallari (1902-1960). They had a son, Gilberto Tofano, later on stage and TV director. In 1953 Tofano started teaching at the Roman theatre academy. After his retirement in 1960, he still continued teaching and having parts in television. In the same year, his wife, who suffered from depressions, killed herself. In 1973 Tofano died himself and was buried at the family tomb in Milan, next to his wife. In his text on Tofano, Sergio Romano remembered in Corriere della Sera (2012), how impressive Tofano's part had been of the old servant Firs in the final scene of The Cherry Orchard, directed by Visconti in 1965 and one of Tofano's last stage performances. "But on the almost empty stage appeared Firs, forgotten by those to whom he had dedicated his life. In those few last minutes, while laying down on a sofa, he remembered the past and mumbled his last sentences. Tofano stole the show from Paolo Stoppa, Rina Morelli, Massimo Girotti, Lucilla Morlacchi, Ottavia Piccolo. In that momento the applause and some tears too were all for him." Source: English and Italian Wikipedia, IMDB, www.lungomarecastiglioncello.it/persone/DIVERSI/Tofano/~S....
