Exactly a year ago, Edizioni Sabinae released "Amedeo Nazzari," the first official biography of the great actor, a symbol of Italian popular melodrama of the 1950s. Written by Roberto Liberatori, who also wrote "Massimo Girotti. Cronaca di unattore" and "Lucia Bosè. Una biografia," which focus on two other leading figures of the era, it had its regional premiere in Sardinia last April at the Notorious Cinemas in Cagliari, Piazza L'Unione Sarda.
CAGLIARI TASTE DOC
It's no coincidence that Nazzari, one of the first stars of Italian cinema, was born Amedeo Carlo Leone Buffa in 1907 in the Sardinian capital, from where he migrated to Rome at just six years old with his mother and two sisters after his father's death, shortly before the outbreak of the Great War. Liberatori's biography, which reconstructs the blockbuster actor's personal and professional life through documents, letters, and diaries, and the invaluable support of Nazzari and Irene Genna's daughter, Evelina, a stage and film actress, reveals a man beyond legend: an extremely versatile actor and an intelligent professional who missed practically nothing in terms of films, and a shy, sweet, and incredibly generous man with a personality of many contrasts, profoundly affected by his father's premature and mysterious death.
THE CINEMA
Over a career spanning more than 30 years, Nazzari, who died of cardiac arrest in 1979, starred in over a hundred films, winning over audiences and critics alike. Among his most celebrated titles were "Chains," "Torment," "Children of No One," and "Who Is Without Sin...", as well as "Bitter Rice," alongside Silvana Mangano and Vittorio Gassman, which helped establish his talent beyond Italy's borders, and Federico Fellini's "Nights of Cabiria." His television credits include his appearance in the cult series "Inspector Derrick," in the episode "The Man from Portofino." "In cinema, he looked for the good, the protective character. He liked himself as a hero who rose above others by accomplishing important feats, a way to break out of his royal persona,” Liberatori told L'Unione Sarda at the presentation of his book in Cagliari, “but Evelina revealed to me a person very different from the image that everyone has, and I too had until that moment, of Amedeo Nazzari: a monolith, a self-confident man who in reality was something else entirely, that is, a very complicated person, with fragilities and insecurities that also influenced his professional choices.”
LIFE OF A MYTH
From the Roman writer's biography, inevitably, emerge the shadows of the great actor, who, riding the wave of success, even touched Hollywood. It seems, in fact, that major American productions had given him some thought, but—regarding his professional choices—whether because of his less-than-confident English or because the idea of being tied to overly restrictive contracts didn't excite him at all, Nazzari declined the invitation. Compared for his charisma and acting ability to stars of the caliber of Clarke Gable and Errol Flynn, he had managed to build an image and a career without the support of a real star system, and to steer clear of scandals and gossip despite his fame and the role of "heartthrob" he had assumed on the big screen.
Despite the flirtations attributed to him—from Eleonora Rossi Drago and Yvonne Sanson, with whom he had shared the stage several times, to Evita Perón, wife of Argentine President Juan Domingo Perón—Nazzari remained linked until his death to the Italian-Greek actress Irene Genna, whom he had married almost in secret. Their only daughter, Evelina, had been conceived before him. A minor scandal given the bigotry of the time, even more so for such a beloved and idolized figure, forced to embody the sometimes uncomfortable role of a spotless and fearless hero, even in his everyday life.