Peppino De Filippo

Biography

Son of playwright Eduardo Scarpetta and brother of Eduardo e Titina, De Filippo debuted still in his childhood.

After several attempts with different acting companies, as a utility player, in 1931 he and his siblings founded the Compagnia Teatro Umoristico: i De Filippo. It was a very successful experience, featuring tours all over Italy, new comedies, enthusiastic ratings by critics, and sold out in theaters.

However, in 1944, due to a controversy with his brother, Peppino abandoned the company. The separation would allow him to find his own stylistic footprint as an author, being easily distinguishable from Eduardo's: Peppino's comedies are usually easier and more brilliant.

Peppino repeatedly showed his extraordinary versatility; particularly noteworthy are his performance in Il Guardiano by Harold Pinter and in The Miser by Molière (as Harpagon), where he proved to be a skillful actor whose ability had grown beyond brilliant and dialect plays.

Peppino should be defined an actor as well as a popular TV and cinema star. His partnership with Totò in many films has been one among the most interesting collaborations in the Italian comical cinema genre. Their movies obtained an outstanding success, despite being snubbed by critics. Worth a mention are Totò, Peppino e la malafemmina, Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge, and La banda degli onesti. He worked with Federico Fellini as well, for instance in Boccaccio '70), and with Alberto Lattuada.

He also invented Pappagone, a character for a TV show. He represented a humble servant of Cummendatore Peppino De Filippo (the title of Commendatore is a public honour of the Italian Republic). He performed as a sort of usher, a typical character of the Neapolitan theatre, and coined many funny phrases and an own jargon, that would transform into popular sayings. He married three times, and his first wife Adele Carloni gave him Luigi, who is successfully carrying on his father's work.

Theater works