Marcello Mastroianni 1924 – 1996

Biography

Marcello Mastroianni was born in Fontana Liri, Italy, and grew up in Rome and Turin, where he worked as an extra in films while studying. He became Italy’s most celebrated leading man, starring for Federico Fellini in La Dolce Vita and 8½, films that made him an international icon of European cinema, and for Vittorio De Sica, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Luchino Visconti. His elegant, melancholic screen presence suited both comedy and drama, and he was nominated for the Academy Award three times, for Divorce Italian Style, A Special Day, and Dark Eyes. He worked with the great actresses of his age, including Sophia Loren, with whom he made a dozen films. He died in Paris, France, in 1996. His partnership with Fellini produced some of the most famous images in cinema, and he remains Italy’s most beloved screen actor.