Jerry Calà

Calogero Alessandro Augusto Calà, known by his stage name Jerry Calà (born 28 June 1951), is an Italian actor, filmmaker, comedian and singer who has written, directed, and acted in multiple film and television projects. He is considered one of the most popular Italian comedians of the eighties and nineties in his country.[1]

Jerry Calà
Jerry Calà in 1995
Born
Calogero Calà

(1951-06-28) 28 June 1951
Catania, Italy
NationalityItalian
Occupationactor, film director

Background

Calà was born Calogero Calà in Catania, and as a child he moved first in Milan and then in Verona.[2] He married the italian showgirl Mara Venier in 1984, but divorced three years later. He remarried the businesswoman Elisabetta Castioni in 2002 and in 2003 was born his son Johnny.[2]

Career

In the early 1970s Calà co-founded together with Umberto Smaila, Franco Oppini and Ninì Salerno a cabaret-ensemble, "i gatti di Vicolo Miracoli".[2] In early 80s, after two films with the group, he started a solo career as leading actor in numerous comedy films, obtaining a great popularity in Italy.[2] In 1993 he starred in the dramatic movie Diary of a Maniac, directed by Marco Ferreri and which was entered into the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival, where Calà won the award for best actor for the italian film criticism.[3] He debuted as director in 1994 with Chicken Park, a low-budget parody of Jurassic Park.[4] His most famous films are: I fichissimi (1981), Time for Loving (1983), Vacanze di Natale (1983), Vacanze in America (1984) and Yuppies (1986) directed by Carlo Vanzina; I'm Going to Live by Myself (1982) and A Boy and a Girl (1984) directed by Marco Risi; Yuppies 2 (1986) directed by Enrico Oldoini; Bomber (1982) directed by Michele Lupo; Al bar dello sport (1983) directed by Francesco Massaro; Rimini Rimini (1987) directed by Sergio Corbucci; Professione vacanze (1987) directed by Vittorio De Sisti; Fratelli d'Italia (1989) directed by Neri Parenti; Abbronzatissimi (1991) and Abbronzatissimi 2 (1993) directed by Bruno Gaburro; Diary of a Maniac (1993) directed by Marco Ferreri; Vita Smeralda (2006) and Torno a vivere da solo (2008) directed by himself.[2]

Filmography
Jerry Calà's signature

As director

As actor

References
  1. Uva, Picchi. Gli anni '80.
  2. Enrico Lancia,Roberto Poppi. Gli attori. Gremese Editore, 2003.
  3. "Berlinale: 1993 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  4. Marco Giusti. Dizionario dei film italiani stracult. Sperling & Kupfer, 1999.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.