Riccardo Cucciolla

Life and career

Born in Bari, in southern Italy, Cucciolla gained a degree in law, then made his stage debut in an amateur production in his home city. From 1946, he started working in radio as a voice actor and as the narrator of documentaries; at the same time, he started working in cinema, as a dubber and a voice actor.

Cucciolla made his film debut in 1953, in Anton Giulio Majano's La domenica della buona gente. After some minor roles, he had his first important role in Italiani brava gente (1965), followed by a further significant role in Giuliano Montaldo's Grand Slam (1967).

Cucciolla came to national and international recognition with the leading role in Montaldo's Sacco e Vanzetti, for which he was awarded best actor at Cannes and won a Silver Ribbon. In the wake of that sudden popularity, he intensively worked throughout the decade, alternating notable films with others of more modest quality and ambition. Starting from eighties he thinned out his appearances, mainly focusing on dubbing and television roles. At the age of 75, Ricardo Cucciolla died in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is survived by his wife, the poet Alida Sessa; their son Riccardo; and two children by his first wife.