Gino Cervi

Gino Cervi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒiːno ˈtʃɛrvi]; 3 May 1901 – 3 January 1974) was an Italian actor.

Gino Cervi
Gino Cervi as Maigret (1967).
Born(1901-05-03)3 May 1901
Bologna, Italy
Died3 January 1974(1974-01-03) (aged 72)
Punta Ala, Italy
NationalityItalian

Life and career

Cervi was born in Bologna as Luigi Cervi. His father was the theatre critic Antonio Cervi. In 1928, he married Nini Gordini (one of his partners) and they had a son, Tonino Cervi. Gino Cervi later became the grandfather of actress Valentina Cervi and producer Antonio Levesi Cervi.

Cervi (left) with the Belgian author Georges Simenon and the Italian publisher Arnoldo Mondadori

Cervi was best known for his role of Giuseppe Bottazzi ("Peppone"), the Communist mayor in the Don Camillo movies of the 1950s and the 1960s. He shared great understanding and friendship with co-star Fernandel during the 15 years playing their respective roles in Don Camillo movies.[1]

Toward the end of his career he played Commissioner Maigret for eight years in the Italian TV adaptation of the celebrated series of crime novels by Georges Simenon, Le inchieste del commissario Maigret (1964–1972), during which he also starred in a spin-off movie Maigret a Pigalle (Mario Landi, 1966), produced by his son Antonio Cervi.[2].

Gino Cervi was initiated to the Italian Scottish Rite Freemasonry in the Lodge "Palingenesi" (Rome, 1946) and later he joined the Lodge "Galvani" in Bologna[3] [4].

He died in Punta Ala in 1974.

Selected filmography

He dubbed to Clark Gable into Italian language in It Happened One Night by Frank Capra, 1934; and Laurence Olivier in three films: Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948) and Richard III (1955).

Bibliography
  • (in Italian) Mauro Manciotti, Un attore per amico. Omaggio a Gino Cervi, Comune di Borgio Verezzi (SV), Borgio Verezzi 1999
  • (in Italian) Andrea Maioli, Rino Maenza, Cervi 100. Peppone, Maigret e gli altri, Medianova, Bologna 2001
  • (in Italian) Andrea Derchi, Marco Biggio, Gino Cervi: attore protagonista del '900, ERGA Edizioni, Genova 2002, ISBN 8881632381
  • (in Italian) Riccardo F. Esposito, Don Camillo e Peppone. Cronache cinematografiche dalla Bassa Padana 1951-1965, Le Mani - Microart's, Recco, 2008, ISBN 9788880124559

Notes
  1. Cf. Andrea Maioli & Rino Maenza, Cervi 100. Peppone, Maigret e gli altri, Medianova, Bologna 2001, s.v. "Don Camillo".
  2. Cf. Andrea Maioli & Rino Maenza, Cervi 100. Peppone, Maigret e gli altri, ibid., s.v. "Maigret".
  3. "From Belli to Totò and Gino Cervi, MASSONICamente narrows the Italian artist freemasons" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. il 3 gennaio ricorrono i 40 anni dalla morte, indimenticabile interprete di Peppone iscritto alla loggia "Galvani" di Bologna, dopo essere stato iniziato nel 1946 nella loggia "Palingenesi" di Roma
  4. "When Totò was a Freemason". ricerca.repubblica.it (in Italian). 11 July 1993. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
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