Ugo Fantozzi

The character

Fantozzi was created in 1968 out of a television program in which Villaggio played a stereotypically unlucky Italian bungler.

The first novel, Fantozzi, was published in 1971, and introduced a hapless accountant, fighting with the vices, the tortures and the changes in Italian society. He is an extravagant exaggeration of customs and habits of Italy's lower middle class.

Fantozzi has an ugly and slovenly wife named Pina who is never satisfied, particularly in bed. He also has a daughter named Mariangela who is so ugly that everyone mistakes her for a monkey. To spare her feelings Fantozzi pretends that she is the most beautiful in the world.

Since Fantozzi's family atmosphere is so bad, he attempts to escape by having fun with his colleagues at Megaditta ("Mega-Company"), the large company where he works. However, the dynamics of the workplace are as dysfunctional as his personal life but, while Fantozzi's colleagues sell out their dignity and compete with each other to allow themselves to be treated like floor mats, Fantozzi the unfortunate accountant always tries to maintain his honor.

Fantozzi is not always submissive, and can sometimes react ruthlessly, often having the courage to rebel and assert his dignity, and also that of his colleagues, when others cannot. It is, however, his superiors who always retain the power and Fantozzi, due to his dignity and gentle soul, is forced to endure the worst possible suffering.

In Books

In Films