Mario Scaccia

Biography

Born in Rome, the son of a painter, during the Second World War Scaccia was conscripted into the army as an officer in Sicily; made prisoner by the American army, he was taken in Morocco, where he remained three years. In 1945 Scaccia returned to Rome, where he abandoned his studies in pedagogy and enrolled at the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico, attending only the first year; in 1946 he started appearing on stage, usually as character actor. In 1961 Scaccia was co-founder, together with Valeria Moriconi, Franco Enriquez and Glauco Mauri, of the Compagnia dei Quattro ("Company of the Four") that gained critical and commercial success. At the same time Scaccia was a prolific character actor in films, TV series and radio-dramas.

Scaccia was also an author and a poet; his works include several autobiographies. He died in Rome at 91, as a result of complications for a surgical intervention.