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Benigni was born on 27 October 1952 in Manciano La Misericordia (afrazione ofCastiglion Fiorentino), Tuscany, the son of Isolina Papini (1919–2004), a fabric maker, and Luigi Benigni (1919–2004), a bricklayer, carpenter, and farmer.[2] He has three sisters: Bruna (born 1945), Albertina (born 1947) and Anna (born 1948). He was raisedCatholic and served as analtar boy;[3][4] later in his life he became an atheist,[5] but then resumed his interest in religious topics, such as theTen Commandments and theSong of Songs.[6]
His first experiences as a theatre actor took place in 1971, inPrato. During that autumn he moved to Rome where he took part in some experimental theatre shows, some of which he also directed. In 1975, Benigni had his first theatrical success withCioni Mario di Gaspare fu Giulia, written byGiuseppe Bertolucci. Benigni studied clown underPhilippe Gaulier atÉcole Philippe Gaulier.[7][8]
Benigni became widely known in Italy in the 1970s for a television series calledOnda Libera, onRai 2, produced byRenzo Arbore, in which he interpreted the satirical pieceThe Hymn of the Body Purged (L'inno del corpo sciolto, ascatological song about the joys ofdefecation).[9] A great scandal for the time, the series was suspended due tocensorship.[10] His first film was 1977'sBerlinguer, I Love You (Berlinguer ti voglio bene), also by Bertolucci.
His popularity increased withL'altra domenica (1976–1979), another TV show of Arbore's in which Benigni portrayed a lazy film critic who never watches the films he's asked to review.Bernardo Bertolucci then cast him in a small speechless role as a window upholsterer in the filmLa Luna which had limited American distribution due to its subject matter.
In 1980 he metCesenate actressNicoletta Braschi, who became his wife on 26 December 1991 and who has starred in most of the films he has directed.
In June 1983 he appeared during a public political demonstration by theItalian Communist Party, with which he was a sympathiser, and on this occasion, he lifted and cradled the party's national leaderEnrico Berlinguer. It was an unprecedented act, given that until that moment Italian politicians were proverbially serious and formal. Benigni was censored again in the 1980s for callingPope John Paul II something impolite during an important live TV show (Wojtylaccio, meaning 'Bad Wojtyla' in Italian, but with a somewhat friendly meaning in Tuscan dialect).
Benigni's first film as director wasTu mi turbi (You Upset Me) in 1983. This film was also his first collaboration with Braschi.
In 1984, he played inNon ci resta che piangere ('Nothing Left to Do but Cry') with comic actorMassimo Troisi. The story was a fable in which the protagonists are suddenly thrown back in time to the 15th century, just a little before 1492. They start looking forChristopher Columbus in order to stop him from discovering the Americas (for very personal reasons), but are not able to reach him.
Beginning in 1986, Benigni starred in three films by American directorJim Jarmusch. InDown By Law (1986) (which in Italy had its title spelt "Daunbailò", in Italian phonetics[11]) he played Bob, an innocent foreigner living in the United States, convicted of manslaughter, whose irrepressible good humour and optimism help him to escape and find love (the film also starred Braschi as his beloved). InNight on Earth (1991) he played a cabbie in Rome, who causes his passenger, a priest, great discomfort and a heart attack by confessing his bizarre sexual experiences.[12] Later, he also starred in the first of Jarmusch's series of short films,Coffee and Cigarettes (2003).[13]
In 1993, he starred inSon of the Pink Panther, directed by veteranBlake Edwards. Benigni playedPeter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau's illegitimate son who is assigned to save the Princess of Lugash. The film bombed in the US, but was a hit in his homeland.[15]
Benigni is widely known outside Italy for his 1997tragicomedyLife Is Beautiful (La vita è bella), filmed inArezzo, also written by Cerami. The film is about an Italian Jewish man who tries to protect his son's innocence during his internment at aNaziconcentration camp, by telling him thatthe Holocaust is an elaborate game and he must adhere very carefully to the rules to win. Benigni's father had spent three years in aconcentration camp inBergen-Belsen,[18] andLa vita è bella is based in part on his father's experiences. Benigni was also inspired by the story of Holocaust survivorRubino Romeo Salmonì.[19] Although the story and presentation of the film had been discussed during production with different Jewish groups to limit the offence it might cause, the film was attacked by some critics, who accused it of presenting the Holocaust without much suffering, while others argued that a comedy about such a subject was not appropriate. More favourable critics praised Benigni's artistic daring and skill to create a sensitive comedy involving the Holocaust, a challenge thatCharlie Chaplin confessed he would not have taken on withThe Great Dictator had he been aware of the true horrors occurring in ghettos and concentration camps in Europe at the time.
In 1998, the film was nominated for sevenAcademy Awards. At the1999 ceremony, the film was awarded the Oscar forBest Foreign Language Film (which Benigni accepted as the film's director),Best Original Dramatic Score (the score byNicola Piovani), and Benigni received the award forBest Actor (the first for a male performer in a non-English-speaking role, and only the third overall acting Oscar for non-English-speaking roles).
Overcome with giddy delight afterLife Is Beautiful was announced as the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, Benigni climbed over and then stood on the backs of the seats in front of him and applauded the audience before proceeding to the stage. After winning his Best Actor Oscar later in the evening, he said in his acceptance speech, "This is a terrible mistake because I used up all my English!" To close his speech, Benigni quoted the closing lines ofDante'sDivine Comedy (Divina Commedia), referencing "the love that moves the sun and all the stars". At thefollowing year's ceremony, when he read the nominees forBest Actress (won byHilary Swank forBoys Don't Cry), hostBilly Crystal playfully appeared behind him with a large net to restrain Benigni if he got excessive with his antics again.[20] On a 1999 episode ofSaturday Night Live, hostRay Romano played him in a sketch parodying his giddy behavior at the ceremony.
Benigni played one of the main characters inAsterix and Obelix vs. Caesar as Detritus, a corrupt Roman provincial governor who wants to kill Julius Caesar, thereby seizing control of theRoman Republic.
That same year, he gave a typically energetic and revealing interview to Canadian filmmakerDamian Pettigrew forFellini: I'm a Born Liar (2002), a cinematic portrait of the maestro that was nominated for Best Documentary at theEuropean Film Awards. The film went on to win the prestigious Rockie Award for Best Arts Documentary at theBanff World Television Festival (2002) and theCoup de Coeur at the International Sunnyside of the Doc Marseille (2002).
In 2003, Benigni was honored by theNational Italian American Foundation (NIAF), receiving the Foundation's NIAF Special Achievement Award in Entertainment.
On 15 October 2005, he performed an impromptustriptease on Italy's most watched evening news program, removing his shirt and draping it over the newscaster's shoulders. Prior to removing his shirt, Benigni had already hijacked the opening credits of the news program, jumping behind the newscaster and announcing: "Berlusconi has resigned!" (Benigni was an outspoken critic of media tycoon and then former Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi.) The previous day, he had led a crowd of thousands in Rome on Friday in protest at the centre-right government's decision to cut state arts funding by 35 per cent.
Benigni on the stage ofTuttoDante inPadua, June 2008
Benigni is an improvisatory poet (poesia estemporanea is a form of art popularly followed and practised inTuscany), appreciated for his explanation and recitations ofDante'sDivine Comedy (Divina Commedia) from memory.
During 2006 and 2007, Benigni had a lot of success touring Italy with his 90-minute "one-man show"TuttoDante ('Everything About Dante'). Combining current events and memories of his past narrated with an ironic tone, Benigni then begins a journey of poetry and passion through the world of theDivine Comedy.
TuttoDante has been performed in numerous Italian piazzas, arenas, and stadiums for a total of 130shows, with an estimated audience of about one million spectators. Over 10 million more spectators watched theTV show,Il V canto dell'Inferno ('The 5th Song of Hell'), broadcast byRai 1 on 29 November 2007, with re-runs onRai International.
Benigni began North American presentations ofTuttoDante with an announcement that he learned English to bring the gift of Dante's work to English speakers. The English performance incorporates dialectic discussion of language and verse and is a celebration of modernity and the concept of human consciousness as created by language.
Benigni broughtTuttoDante to the United States, Canada and Argentina in the TuttoDante Tour between 2008 and 2009 with performances in San Francisco, Boston and Chicago. Benigni was feted in San Francisco at a special reception held by the National Italian American Foundation in his honour on 24 May 2009. Following his U.S. premiere Benigni performed his last presentation on 16 June 2009, inBuenos Aires, Argentina where he was awardedHonorary Citizenship of the City of Buenos Aires in a ceremony held at theLegislative Palace in homage to the notableItalian diaspora and culture in Argentina.[21]
Roberto Benigni (1996). Marco Giusti (ed.).E l'alluce fu: monologhi & gag (in Italian). With a chapter by Cesare Garboli. Turin: Einaudi.ISBN88-06-14184-8.
