Mario Carillo

Mario Carillo (aka Count Mario Caracciolo) was an Italian actor who worked in silent films in Hollywood in the 1920s.[1][2]

For the Mexican footballer, see Mario Carrillo.

Mario Carillo
Born
Mario Caracciolo

(1883-05-15)15 May 1883
Naples, Italy
Died3 December 1953(1953-12-03) (aged 70)
Rome, Italy
OccupationActor
Years active1920–1930
Spouse(s)Miriam Crosby (m. 1915)

Biography

Origins

Mario was allegedly born as Mario Comte Caracciolo di Melito into a wealthy noble family in Naples, Italy, in 1883 (some sources claim his birth year as 1894).[3] His parents were Filippo Caracciolo and Emilia Compagna.

Mario served as an officer in the Italian cavalry before moving to the United States.[4] He worked as an attache at the Italian embassy in Washington, D.C., where he met and married Miriam Crosby in 1915.[5][6] The pair had a son, Ludovico.

Hollywood career

Around 1920, he headed out to Hollywood alone to seek work as an actor. He also worked as a physiotherapist at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, where he met Rudolph Valentino.[7] He also had a fling with a young actress named Lucille LeSueur (better by the stage name she took on later, Joan Crawford). Over the course of the decade, he appeared in several dozen films before returning to Italy with the aim of starting his own production company.[8] (It does not appear that he was successful in this endeavor.)

Later life

Mario died in Rome, Italy, in 1953; he was survived by his wife.

There appears to be a case of mistaken identity at the heart of stories in the press that he was the Mario Caracciolo who was given supreme command of the Italian army's technical service by Mussolini during World War II.[8] This man's full name appears to have been named Mario Caracciolo di Feroleto; the two were around the same age.

Selected filmography

References
  1. Thorold, W. J.; Hornblow, Arthur; Maxwell, Perriton; Beach, Stewart (1922). Theatre Magazine. Theatre Magazine Company.
  2. Brownlow, Kevin (1968). The Parade's Gone By. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03068-8.
  3. Muscio, Giuliana (30 October 2018). Napoli/New York/Hollywood: Film between Italy and the United States (Critical Studies in Italian America). New York City: Fordham University Press. ISBN 9780823279388.
  4. S. George Ullman (1926). Valentino: As I Knew Him (3rd edition). Media History Digital Library. New York, Macy-Masius.
  5. The Spur. Angus Company. 1922.
  6. "Becomes Bride of Titled Italian". The Washington Post. 5 July 1915. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  7. Bret, David (15 April 2009). Joan Crawford: Hollywood Martyr. Hachette Books. ISBN 978-0-7867-3236-4.
  8. "Duce Gives High Post to Hollywood Ex-Actor". The Los Angeles Times. 12 January 1940. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
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