- Galeazzo Benti in Cineguida 1943
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After attending Arts High school (he dabbled in drawing, and was the author of several magazine covers), where Galeazzo also learned English and French, and after having traveled a lot abroad in search of inspiration, he started a film career at a very young age. His real artistic baptism was in the movie Tre aquilotti (1942), under the direction of Mattoli, in the hilarious part of the "man in trouble". After having interpreted secondary parts in some films, he was premiered with a significant one in Bengasi (1942).[1]
The television audience met him several times in the TV broadcast Costanzo Show, in Nocita's Promessi sposi where he played Chancellor Ferrer, but above all he had the opportunity to delight in seeing him in several brilliant comedies: first of all Totò imperatore di Capri, in the irresistible role of the gagà (a man who flaunts a refined and affected elegance, with many airs of a great gentleman).
His "uniform", elegant but extravagant, revolves around a soft foulard which often accompanied his performances. He joins famous revue theatre troupes, such as Mattoli's Zabum and Garinei & Giovannini's Soffia so'. Both theater and cinema attribute to him always the character of the gagà, making him one of the most recognizable character actors of a certain season; probably a role that he should have played forever, and this was enough to convince him to accept a different job offer from Venezuela, where he settled since the '56, for thirty years.[2]
It was remembered that he had also been a pioneer of the TV, as presenter of the Ottovolante variety.
He's gone with by heart attack in his house in Bracciano, at the age of 70.[2]
Filmography[1, 2]
- Tre aquilotti (1942)
- Bengasi (1942)
- Gente dell'aria (1943)
- La donna è mobile (1942)
- Gian Burrasca (1943) .... Tinti, the journalist
- L'imperatore di Capri (1949)
| 1. Dante Lazzaro. Cineguida 1943. 2. Paolo d'Agostini. Addio Galeazzo Benti (1993) on Repubblica.it |