Sordi established himself as an icon from a career that spanned seven decades of Italian cinema with his skills in comedy and light drama. He started as a voice actor and a theater actor, but eventually grew to fame as a comedian. In the 1960s, he started interpreting complex dramatic characters, as well as directing his own films: his credits as a director include 19 movies. Sordi won fiveNastro d'argento, tenDavid di Donatello, aGolden Globe, aGolden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and many other awards and accolades.
Alberto Sordi was born in Rome, in via San Cosimato, 7, on the 15th of June, 1920. His father Pietro Sordi (1879–1941) was a music professor, he playedtuba contrabbasso in the orchestra of theTeatro dell'Opera di Roma. His mother Maria Righetti (1889–1952) was an elementary school teacher. Alberto Sordi was the fifth of their children, his elder siblings were Savina (1911–1972), Giuseppe (1915–1990), and Aurelia (1917–2014). He received his name after Alberto, the couple's third son, who died in 1916 being only several days old. The Sordi family was coming fromValmontone where Alberto spent a part of his childhood.[1]
Already in elementary school Alberto started staging smallpuppet plays. At the age of 7, he developed interest in opera. Hesang in theSistine Chapel Choir headed byLorenzo Perosi. When Sordi's voice changed to bass, he studiedopera and performed as an opera singer for several years.[2][1] However, the parents did not support his pursuit of an acting career. Only the maternal grandfather Primo Righetti encouraged Alberto Sordi to try himself as a performer and even presented him with atuxedo with some money inside the pocket. For several years, he wore that costume on stage.[3]
In 1936, he recorded a disc of children's fairy tales for the Fonit record company and left for Milan with the proceeds There Sordi enrolled toAccademia dei Filodrammatici, for which he abandoned his studies at the Istituto di Avviamento Commerciale "Giulio Romano" in Rome. However, to please his mother, he graduated as an accountant several years later. From Accademia dei Filodrammatici he was expelled for the thickRomanesco dialect.[4][5] In light theatre, after an unsuccessful attempt with the company ofAldo Fabrizi andAnna Fougez in the 1936–1937 season in the show San Giovanni, he tried again in the following season. He formed a comic duo with his childhood friend, they debuted at Cinema Teatro Pace in Milan but had little success and had to go back to Rome.[6]
In 1937, he returned to Rome and found himself several roles as abackground actor atCinecittà. In the same year, he won a competition organised by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer todub the voice ofOliver Hardy (initially under the pseudonym Albert Odisor), along with Mauro Zambuto, who dubbedStan Laurel. As recalled by Sordi himself, he went into the auditions with no specific dubbing experience and with little expectation of success, given the competition from established professionals in the industry. It was MGM dubbing director Franco Schirato who considered Sordi's low register and 'warm and mellow' voice an ideal match for the character's considerable size (although Hardy's voice was actually in the tenor register); he was therefore cast without delay, debuting in the dubbing of the comedyBelow Zero in 1939, followed by the feature filmThe Flying Deuces in the same year.
Sordi finally managed to make his debut in the revue theatre in the company ofGuido Riccioli [it] andNanda Primavera in the 1938–1939 season with the showMa in campagna è un'altra... rosa. In this show he initially had the role of stilé (line dancer), but was later promoted to the role of butler in a sketch by Benini and Gori written especially for him. In 1938–39, he played in several movies, includingPrincess Tarakanova andThe Night of Tricks.[5][6]
In 1940, he was called to arms. He was assigned to the82nd Infantry Regiment "Torino" and served in the regimental orchestra, they played accompanying the soldiers' departures for the brief French campaign. During the service, Sordi still had time to pursue his artistic career.[8] In this period, he played minor roles inGiararub directed by Goffredo Alessandrini,La Signorina by Ladislao Kish,Le signorine della villa accanto byGian Paolo Rosmino. The first major success came withMario Mattoli'sThe Three Pilots. On stage he was getting known as a comedian and joined the Compagnia di riviste di Fanfulla. In 1943, he played a part in Mattoli'sRitorna Za-Bum at Teatro Quirino.[9]
In 1950, withVittorio De Sica he co-founded the P.F.C. (Produzione Film Comici), but disengaged from it in 1951. Also in 1950, he debuted as a protagonist inMamma Mia, What an Impression!. However, the film received tepid reviews from critics and the audience.[10] In 1951 he first started collaborating withFederico Fellini: they madeThe White Sheik in 1952 andI vitelloni in 1953, a movie about young slackers, in which he plays a weak immature loafer.[11] ForI vitelloni Sordi was praised by critics and for the first time appreciated highly as a dramatic actor and honoured withNastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actor In 1954 he played in as many as in 13 films, includingAn American in Rome,Il seduttore, etc. Late in 1953, Sordi went to New York withGoffredo Lombardo who intended to shoot thereUn romano a New York. Though the project was never realized, the trip made Sordi think about perspectives in foreign cinema.[12]
As the genre of Italian comedy progressed and took shape, Sordi's signature character crystallized into something that critics referred to as so-called 'average Italian'. These characters tend to be overbearing with the weak and servile with the powerful, from whom they try to get privileges. Promotion of such characters was criticized and by some called 'giving a bad example' because their representation somehow justified such behavior and gave some the example as an excuse for their meagreness. Some important characters he did were Ubaldo Impallato inBravissimo, Peppino inFortunella, Bepi inVenice, the Moon and You, Alberto Nardi inIl vedovo.[16][17][18]
In 1959, Sordi appeared in Monicelli'sGreat War, considered by many critics and film historians to be one of the best Italian comedies. For the role in this film, he was awarded with his secondNastro d'Argento for Best Actor and the firstDavid di Donatello.The Great War marks a turning point in his career, when Sordi moved on from playing meager 'average Italians' to interpreting complex dramatic characters. The 1960 filmEverybody Go Home directed byLuigi Comencini also was a great success, it was referred to as one of the most important cinema in post-war Italy. Sordi won his secondDavid di Donatello for it, as well as theGrolla d'oro.[19]
In 1969, he was a juror at the6th Moscow International Film Festival.[22] In 1984, he directed and co-scriptedTutti dentro (Off to jail, everybody), in which he played a judge who has warrants for corruption served on ministers and businessmen.[23] In 1985, he was a member of the jury at the35th Berlin International Film Festival.[24] Sordi appeared in more than 150 films in his film career.[25]
His credits as a director include 19 films.[26][25]
In 1966, Sordi made his directorial debut with the comedyFumo di Londra, acting as both writer and performer in the lead role. The performance brought him another David di Donatello. In 1967, together withVittorio De Sica, he went to the USA where they co-createdAn Italian in America. From that moment Sordi decided to concentrate on creating his own films, where he would be both director and screenwriter.[20] In 1969, he releasedHelp Me, My Love starringMonica Vitti. He made two more movies with Vitti in the main lead:Polvere di stelle (1973) andI Know That You Know That I Know (1982).[27]
In 1980, he releasedCatherine and I. Two years later, he directedJourney with Papa where he starred alongsideCarlo Verdone. The duo of two actors from different generations was very well received by audiences and the film's box office were record high. Released during the Christmas holidays, the film started Sordi's tradition of making a film every year before Christmas. In December 1983, he releasedIl tassinaro [it].[27]
In 1984, he directed and co-scriptedTutti dentro (Off to jail, everybody), in which he played a judge who has warrants for corruption served on ministers and businessmen.[23] In 1985, Sordi was a member of the jury at the35th Berlin International Film Festival.[24]
In 2001, Sordi was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died of pneumonia and bronchitis at his villa in Rome on the night between 24 and 25 February 2003. A crowd in excess of a million gathered to pay their last respects at his funeral by theBasilica of St. John Lateran.[28][29]
Sordi was very discreet about his private life and never spoke to journalists about it. Despite never marrying and having no children, Sordi was in several relationships, including a nine-year romance with actressAndreina Pagnani.[30] Only after his death some relatives revealed stories and anecdotes from his private life. The niece of Alberto Sordi recalled that he remained forever grateful to grandfather Primo Righetti for his constant support at the early stages of career. They remained close, when Primo Reghetti experienced health problems in the late years, Sordi paid for his treatment in the best private clinics.[3] The peers recalled that Sordi avoided the VIP social gatherings and parties, especially in the 1960s, the time of 'Dolce Vita', while most of his colleagues enjoyed nightlife, he was always busy working and releasing 13–15 movies a year.[31] He was enormously famous in Italy, and was nicknamed ' l'Albertone ': lit., 'The Great Alberto'.[32]
Except for the brief period in his youth, when he tried to study in Milan, Sordi always lived in Rome. In 1958, he purchased and moved to a luxurious villa in via Druso, 45, next to theBaths of Caracalla. For more than 40 years, he lived there with his sister Aurelia.[19][33]
Sordi was raised Roman Catholic. He was also a big supporter of theAS Roma football team. This was something he expressed a fondness of in some of his films.[34]
Sordi deliberately built a reputation as a greedy man. He carefully maintained the myth, but as claimed and witnessed by relatives and friends, donated money to numerous charity projects and supported his family, friends, and colleagues, by paying for their healthcare and other needs. Even the costumes made for his films he gave away for the poor.[31]
In 1992, Sordi establishedFondazione Alberto Sordi, a nonprofit institution aimed to help and support the elderly people. He also bought for the Foundation a land plot where in 2002 were opened two Healthcare and Rehabilitation centres for the senior Italians.[40][41]
In 2017, his family established theAlberto Sordi Family Award that honour Italian and international filmmakers and actors.[42]
Alberto Sordi left all his fortune to his sister Aurelia. Aurelia, who died at 97, bequeathed the entire fortune to three foundations named after her brother, but only two of them were really supported by Sordi: Fondazione Alberto Sordi, established in 1992, and Fondazione Alberto Sordi per i giovani, founded in 2001. As suspected by the relatives, Aurelia was tricked into creating the third foundation by her closest personnel, a driver, a housekeeper, and lawyers. The third foundation, titled Fondazione Museo Alberto Sordi, was registered in 2011, when Aurelia had already displayed symptoms of dementia. According to Aurelia's will, also written in 2011, Fondazione Museo Alberto Sordi inherited the fortune of more than 30 mln euro and a Roman villa in via Druso, 45, where she and her brother had been living since 1958.[3][43][44] Fondazione Alberto Sordi and Fondazione Alberto Sordi per i giovani both received around 10 mln euro. 37 family members of Sordi sued the Fondazione Museo Alberto Sordi and 9 members of the personal staff of Aurelia, trying to invalidate the will. The case was started following a complaint filed by a bank that had noticed suspicious movements on Aurelia's bank accounts. However, after a five year trial, the court acknowledged the will and acquitted the defendants of all charges.[45][46]
