Ugo Tognazzi

Despite Ugo Tognozzi's many superb, award-winning performances accumulated over a four-decade career (and I do mean many), this short (5'8") but virile, mustachioed, stocky-framed Italian character star will be forever cherished if only for his one classic comedy role -- that of gay cabaret owner Renato Baldi, opposite 'Michel Serrault' (qv)'s hilariously mincing drag queen partner Alban, in _La Cage aux Folles (1978)_ (qv) one of the biggest cross-over foreign hits to ever land on American soil.Born Ottavio Tognozzi in Cremona, Italy, on March 23, 1922, by the time Ugo was a teen he was a bookkeeper for a salami factory and performed in local amateur theatricals on the sly. Appearing on the stage, he finally found an entry into films at age 28 in 1950 with a featured role in the war comedy _I cadetti di Guascogna (1950)_ (qv). He built up a solid comedy resume in primarily Neapolitan 50's features including _La paura fa 90 (1951)_ (qv) (his first co-starring role), _Café chantant (1953)_ (qv), _Milanesi a Napoli (1954)_ (qv), _La moglie è uguale per tutti (1955)_ (qv), _Sunday Is Always Sunday (1958)_ (qv), _The Woman's Confidant (1959)_ (qv) and _Tipi da spiaggia (1959)_ (qv).Ugo became a middle-aged European star the following decade. Turning in a number of powerhouse character studies, he excelled as bon vivants, adulterous husbands and other suave gents in primarily farcical comedy and saucy, sardonic romps, particularly those of director/writer 'Marco Ferreri' (qv). He also demonstrated a remarkable range when it came to portraying world-weary protagonists in political drama or grim satire. For Ferreri alone, he appeared in the award-winning _The Conjugal Bed (1963)_ (qv), _Countersex (1964)_ (qv), _The Wedding March (1966)_ (qv), _Die Audienz (1972)_ (qv), and the masterful _La Grande Bouffe (1973)_ (qv), amongst others.In 1978, Tognazzi decided to take a chance, and play a character unlike anything he had done, (and, also, rarely done, for fear of being 'stereotyped'), and co-starred with the wonderful 'Michel Serrault' (qv) in an image-shattering part in 1978. What he did was experience the most popular role of his career as one-half of an aging gay couple who operate a drag club. _La Cage aux Folles (1978)_ (qv) went on to spawn two sequels and an American remake (_The Birdcage (1996)_ (qv) starring 'Robin Williams' (qv) (in the Tognozzi role) and 'Nathan Lane' (qv) (in the diva Serrault part)).Tognazzi won several acting honors over the course of his long career. He copped several European awards for his classic roles in _The Monsters (1963)_ (qv) (The Monsters), _I Knew Her Well (1965)_ (qv), _The Climax (1967)_ (qv) (also a rare foreign Golden Globe nomination), _Bambolona - die große Puppe (1968)_ (qv), _Police Chief Pepe (1969)_ (qv), _Die Kalifin (1970)_ (qv) and _Duck in Orange Sauce (1975)_ (qv). He capped it off with the Cannes Film Festival award for his trenchant performance in _Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (1981)_ (qv), the tale of a near-bankrupt factory owner who attempts to use the kidnapping of his son (played by his real-life eldest son 'Ricky Tognazzi' (qv)) to his financial advantage. Tognazzi was also the father of actor 'Gianmarco Tognazzi' (qv) and director 'Maria Sole Tognazzi' (qv), and had another son, producer/writer 'Thomas Robsahm' (qv), via a relationship with actress 'Margrete Robsahm' (qv).In the eighties, Tognozzi focused strongly on the theater and starred in such plays as "Six Characters in Search of an Author in Paris" (1986) and "The Miser" (1988). Although he directed himself in a handful of his own often sexually explicit films, including _The Seventh Floor (1967)_ (qv) and _Dismissed on His Wedding Night (1968)_ (qv), Ugo's true brilliance shines in front of the camera and in the works of other famed European directors, notably Ferrari, 'Bernardo Bertolucci' (qv), 'Pietro Germi' (qv), 'Dino Risi' (qv) and 'Mario Monicelli' (qv). He worked up until the end with incisive starring performances in _Das Chaoten-Duo (1988)_ (qv), _Bandellis Alibi (1988)_ (qv), _Tolérance (1989)_ (qv) and _La batalla de los Tres Reyes (1990)_ (qv) (The Battle of the Three Kings). In 1972, at age 50, Tognazzi wed actress 'Franca Bettoia' (qv), who survives him. He died of a brain hemorrhage in 1990, age 68.::Gary Brumburgh / [email protected] (2019, U.N. Owen)