Eduardo De Filippo

Eduardo De Filippo (Italian: [eduˈardo de fiˈlippo]; 24 May 1900 – 31 October 1984), also known simply as Eduardo,[1] was an Italian actor, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his Neapolitan works Filumena Marturano and Napoli Milionaria. Considered one of the most important italian artists of the 20th century, Eduardo was the author of many theatrical dramas staged and directed by himself first and later awarded and played outside Italy. For his artistic merits and contributions to Italian culture, he was named senatore a vita by the Italian Presidente della Repubblica Sandro Pertini.

Eduardo De Filippo
De Filippo with a model of the
Teatro San Carlino (1955)
Born(1900-05-24)24 May 1900
Naples, Kingdom of Italy
Died31 October 1984(1984-10-31) (aged 84)
Rome, Italy
OccupationActor, playwright, screenwriter
Spouse(s)Isabella Quarantotti (m. 1977) (d.2005)
Thea Prandi (1956–1959) (d.1961)
Dorothy Pennington (1928–1956)
ChildrenLuisa "Luisella" De Filippo (1950–1960)
Luca De Filippo
Angelica Ippolito (stepdaughter)
Parent(s)Luisa De Filippo
Eduardo Scarpetta
RelativesPeppino De Filippo (brother)
Titina De Filippo (sister)

Biography

De Filippo was born in Naples from the affair between playwright and actor Eduardo Scarpetta and theatre seamstress and costumier Luisa De Filippo. He was the second of three children born from the couple, the other two being Annunziata "Titina" and Giuseppe "Peppino". His father was actually married since 1876 to Rosa De Filippo, Luisa's paternal aunt. His father Eduardo had several other illegitimate children from various affairs (including actors Ernesto Murolo, Eduardo Passarelli and Pasquale De Filippo). He began acting at the age of five and in 1932 formed a theater company with his brother Peppino and sister Titina, called compagnia del Teatro Umoristico I De Filippo. Peppino left the troupe in 1944 and Titina departed by the early 1950s. After the war, in 1948 he bought the S. Ferdinando theatre in Naples, inaugurated in 1954. De Filippo starred in De Sica's L'oro di Napoli with Totò and Sophia Loren in 1954. In 1973, Franco Zeffirelli's production of De Filippo's 1959 play Sabato, domenica e lunedi (translated as Saturday, Sunday, Monday), starring Joan Plowright, Frank Finlay and Laurence Olivier, was presented at London's National Theatre and won the London drama critics' award.[2][3]

He was married three times. His first wife was Dorothy Pennington. From his second wife, the actress Thea Prandi, he had two children: Luisa "Luisella" and Luca. The couple divorced in 1959. His daughter Luisella died aged 10 in 1960, shortly before her mother's death in 1961. His third wife was writer and playwright Isabella Quarantotti. The actress Angelica Ippolito is his step-daughter, born to Isabella Quarantotti and her first husband, the scientist Felice Ippolito.

De Filippo died of kidney failure on October 31, 1984, in Rome, at the age of 84. His artistic legacy was inherited by his son Luca.

Works

Theatre
  • Farmacia di turno (The All-night Chemist, 1920)
  • Uomo e galantuomo (Man and Gentleman, 1922)
  • *Requie a l'anema soja/I morti non fanno paura (May his soul rest, 1926)
  • Ditegli sempre di sì (Always tell him "yes", 1927)
  • Filosoficamente (Philosophically, 1928)
  • Sik-sik, l'artefice magico (Sik-sik the magical maker, 1929)
  • Chi è cchiu' felice 'e me (Who's Happier than Me?, 1929)
  • Quei figuri di trent'anni fa (Those Dudes of 30 Years Ago, 1929)
  • Ogni anno punto e da capo (Every Year Back from the Start, 1931)
  • È arrivato 'o trentuno (The 31st is Here, 1931)
  • Natale in casa Cupiello (Christmas at the Cupiello's, 1931)
  • La voce del padrone/Il successo del giorno (Success of the Day, 1932)
  • Napoli milionaria (The Millions of Naples, 1945)
  • Filumena Marturano (1946)
  • Questi fantasmi (These Ghosts, 1946)
  • Le voci di dentro (Inner Voices, 1948)
  • La grande magia (The Great Magic, 1948)
  • La paura numero uno (The Greatest Fear, 1950)
  • Mia famiglia (Family of Mine, 1955)
  • Bene mio e core mio (My Heart, my Treasure, 1955)
  • De Pretore Vincenzo (Vincent De Pretore, 1957)
  • Sabato, domenica e lunedì (Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 1959)
  • Il sindaco del rione Sanità (Mayor of "Sanità" alley, 1961)
  • L'arte della commedia' ("The Art of Comedy", 1964)
  • Il monumento (The Monument 1970)
  • Gli esami non finiscono mai (Exams never end, 1973)

Filmography
Totò and Eduardo De Filippo in Napoli Milionaria

References
  1. Name used only as actor; as actor and director he signed himself with both name and surname.
  2. Cassell Dictionary of Italian Literature - Page 164
  3. McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of world drama: an international ...: Volume 1 - Page 19
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