Adolfo Celi (27 July 1922 – 19 February 1986) was an Italian film actor and director.
Born in Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 movies, specializing in international villains. His most famous role was as Emilio Largo in the 1965 James Bond movie Thunderball. Celi later spoofed his Thunderball role in the film OK Connery (aka Operation Double 007) opposite Sean Connery's brother, Neil. He also appeared as a protagonist in some Italian comedies like Amici Miei and Brancaleone alle Crociate. Another well-known role of his was as camp commandant Battaglia opposite Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard's Allied POWs in the 1965 World War II escape drama Von Ryan's Express.
Celi was fluent in several languages, but his thick Sicilian accent meant that he was usually dubbed when he appeared in English language films. For example, Robert Rietti provided his voice in both Thunderball and That Man from Rio. However, in the 1981 BBC serial The Borgias, in which Celi played Rodrigo Borgia, his accent was not dubbed and he was criticised for being unintelligible and hard to follow.[citation needed]
During his early career, Celi was also successful as a stage actor in Argentina and Brazil, where he owned an actors' company along with the Brazilian stage greats Paulo Autran and Tonia Carrero. He directed three films in South America in the 1950s, including the Brazilian hit Tico-Tico no Fubá in 1952.
Celi was married three times. He died of a heart attack in Rome in 1986.
[edit] Filmography
- Due assi per un turbo (1987)
- All My Friends Part 3 (1985) (Amici miei atto III)
- Cenerentola '80 (1984)
- Monsignor (1982)
- All My Friends Part 2 (1982) (Amici miei atto II)
- Madly in Love (1981) (Innamorato pazzo)
- Carnapping (1980) (Car-Napping - Bestellt, geklaut, geliefert)
- Café Express (1980)
- The Perfect Crime (1978) (Indagine su un delitto perfetto)
- Goodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen (1978) (Signore e signori, buonanotte)
- Le braghe del padrone (1978)
- Professor Kranz tedesco di Germania (1978)
- La tigre è ancora viva: Sandokan alla riscossa! (1977)
- Holocaust 2000 (1977)
- The Passengers (1977) (Les Passagers)
- Pane, burro e marmellata (1977)
- Man of Corleone (1977) (L'uomo di Corleone )
- Merciless Man (1976) (Genova a mano armata)
- The Big Operator (1976) (Le Grand escogriffe)
- The Next Man (1976)
- Confessions of a Frustrated Housewife (1976) (La moglie di mio padre)
- Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man (1976) (Uomini si nasce poliziotti si muore)
- L'affittacamere (1976)
- Pure as a Lily (1976) (Come una rosa al naso)
- Febbre da cavallo (1976)
- Che notte quella notte! (1976)
- L'amaro caso della baronessa di Carini (1975)
- My Friends (1975) (Amici miei)
- And Then There Were None (1974) (Ein unbekannter rechnet ab)
- The Phantom of Liberty (1974) (Le Fantôme de la liberté)
- The Balloon Vendor (1974) (Il venditore di palloncini)
- The Devil Is a Woman (1974) (Il sorriso del grande tentatore)
- Black Holiday (1973) (La villeggiatura)
- Le Mataf (1973) (Tre per una grande rapina)
- Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973)
- Libera, My Love (1973) (Libera, amore mio...)
- Hired to Kill (1972) (La mala ordina)
- Long Arm of the Godfather (1972) (La mano lunga del padrino)
- Naked Girl Killed in the Park (1972) (Ragazza tutta nuda assassinata nel parco)
- Who Killed the Prosecutor and Why? (1972) (Terza ipotesi su un caso di perfetta strategia criminale)
- Eye in the Labyrinth (1972) (L'occhio nel labirinto)
- Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972) (Fratello sole, sorella luna)
- 1931: Once Upon a Time in New York (1972) (Piazza pulita)
- Who Saw Her Die? (1972) (Chi l'ha vista morire?)
- Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971)
- Una chica casi decente (1971)
- They Have Changed Their Face (1971) (Hanno cambiato faccia)
- The Cop (1970) (Un condé)
- Fragment of Fear (1970)
- Rendezvous with Dishonour (1970) (Appuntamento col disonore)
- Finale di partita (1970) (Alla ricerca di Gregory)
- Brancaleone at the Crusades (1970) (Brancaleone alle crociate)
- In Search of Gregory (1969)
- Death Knocks Twice (1969) (Blonde Köder für den Mörder)
- The Archangel (1969) (L'arcangelo)
- A Man for Emmanuelle (1969) (Io, Emmanuelle)
- Detective Belli (1969) (Un Detective)
- Midas Run (1969)
- Alibi (1969) (L'alibi)
- It's Your Move (1969) (Uno scacco tutto matto)
- Diabolik (1968)
- Seven Times Seven (1968) (Sette volte sette)
- Death Sentence (1968) (Sentenza di morte)
- Grand Slam (1967) (Ad ogni costo)
- The Bobo (1967)
- Master Stroke (1967) (Colpo maestro al servizio di Sua Maestà britannica)
- OK Connery (1967)
- The Honey Pot (1967)
- Dirty Heroes (1967) (Dalle Ardenne all'inferno)
- Fantabulous Inc. (1967) (La Donna, il sesso e il superuomo)
- Grand Prix (1966)
- King of Hearts (1966) (Le roi de coeur)
- Target for Killing (1966) (Das Geheimnis der gelben Mönch)
- Yankee (1966)
- El Greco (1966)
- Pleasant Nights (1966) (Le piacevoli notti)
- Thunderball (1965)
- The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
- Crime on a Summer Morning (1965) (Par un beau matin d'été)
- Von Ryan's Express (1965)
- Slalom (1965)
- A Man Named John (1965) (E venne un uomo)
- Le belle famiglie (1964)
- Male Companion (1964) (Un monsieur de compagnie)
- That Man from Rio (1964) (L'homme de Rio)
- Three Nights of Love (1964) (Tre notti d'amore)
- Sandokan the Great (1963) (Sandokan, la tigre di Mompracem)
- Tico-Tico no Fubá (1952)
- Caiçara (1950)
- Hey Boy (1948) (Proibito rubare)
- Christmas at Camp 119 (1948) (Natale al campo 119)
- Immigrants (1948) (Emigrantes)
- A Yank in Rome (1946) (Un americano in vacanza)
[edit] External links
