27 Facts About Roberto Benigni

Roberto Remigio Benigni is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director.

Roberto Benigni gained international recognition for writing, directing and starring in the Holocaust comedy-drama film Life Is Beautiful, for which he received the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best International Feature Film.

Roberto Benigni made his acting debut in 1977's Berlinguer, I Love You, which he wrote, and which was directed by Giuseppe Bertolucci.

Roberto Benigni continued directing and starring in the comedic films Nothing Left to Do But Cry, The Little Devil, Johnny Stecchino, The Monster, Pinocchio, and The Tiger and the Snow.

Roberto Benigni acted in the Jim Jarmusch films Down by Law, Night on Earth and Coffee and Cigarettes.

Roberto Benigni acted in Blake Edwards' Son of the Pink Panther, Woody Allen's To Rome with Love, and Matteo Garrone's Pinocchio.

Roberto Benigni was born on 27 October 1952 in Manciano La Misericordia, the son of Isolina Papini, a fabric maker, and Luigi Roberto Benigni, a bricklayer, carpenter, and farmer.

Roberto Benigni was raised Catholic and served as an altar boy; later in his life he became an atheist, but then resumed his interest in religious topics, such as the Ten Commandments and the Song of Songs, and finally returned to practicing Catholicism.

In 1975, Roberto Benigni had his first theatrical success with Cioni Mario di Gaspare fu Giulia, written by Giuseppe Bertolucci.

Roberto Benigni became widely known in Italy in the 1970s for a television series called Onda Libera, on RAI2, produced by Renzo Arbore, in which he interpreted the satirical piece The Hymn of the Body Purged.

Roberto Benigni's popularity increased with L'altra domenica, another TV show of Arbore's in which Benigni portrayed a lazy film critic who never watches the films he's asked to review.

Roberto Benigni was censored again in the 1980s for calling Pope John Paul II something impolite during an important live TV show.

Roberto Benigni played Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau's illegitimate son who is assigned to save the Princess of Lugash.

Roberto Benigni had a rare serious role in Federico Fellini's last film, La voce della luna.

In earlier years Roberto Benigni had started a long-lasting collaboration with screenwriter Vincenzo Cerami, for a series of films which scored great success in Italy: Il piccolo diavolo with Walter Matthau, Johnny Stecchino, and Il mostro.

Roberto Benigni is widely known outside Italy for his 1997 tragicomedy Life Is Beautiful, filmed in Arezzo, written by Cerami.

Roberto Benigni's father had spent three years in a concentration camp in Bergen-Belsen, and La vita e bella is based in part on his father's experiences.

Roberto Benigni was inspired by the story of Holocaust survivor Rubino Romeo Salmoni.

At the 1999 ceremony, the film was awarded the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Original Dramatic Score, and Roberto Benigni received the award for Best Actor.

Roberto Benigni played one of the main characters in Asterix and Obelix vs Caesar as Detritus, a corrupt Roman provincial governor who wants to kill Julius Caesar, thereby seizing control of the Roman Republic.

Roberto Benigni was named as the Worst Actor for his role as Pinocchio, in the 23rd Golden Raspberry Awards.

In 2003, Roberto Benigni was honored by the National Italian American Foundation, receiving the Foundation's NIAF Special Achievement Award in Entertainment.

Roberto Benigni's film La tigre e la neve is a love story set during the initial stage of the Iraq War.

Roberto Benigni is an improvisatory poet, appreciated for his explanation and recitations of Dante's Divina Commedia from memory.

Roberto Benigni began North American presentations of TuttoDante with an announcement that he learned English to bring the gift of Dante's work to English speakers.

Roberto Benigni brought "TuttoDante" to the United States, Canada and Argentina in the TuttoDante Tour between 2008 and 2009 with performances in San Francisco, Boston and Chicago.

Roberto Benigni was feted in San Francisco at a special reception held by the National Italian American Foundation in his honour on 24 May 2009.