Totò
Born February 14, 1898 (Age: 128)
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Naples, Campania, Italy
Biography
Totò was born Antonio Clemente in a poor district of Naples, the illegitimate son of Anna Clemente from Sicily and Marquis Giuseppe De Curtis from Naples. Nicknamed “il principe della risata’ (the prince of laughter), he was an Italian comedian, film and theatre actor, writer, singer and songwriter, and widely considered one of the greatest Italian artists of the 20th century. While he first gained his popularity as a comic actor, his dramatic roles, poetry, and songs are all of cultural import; his style and a number of his recurring jokes and gestures have become universally known memes in Italy. As a comic actor, Totò is classified as an heir of the Commedia dell'Arte tradition, and has been compared to such figures as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. At the age of 15, he was already acting as a comedian in small theatres, under the pseudonym "Clerment". His early repertoire mostly consisted in imitations of Gustavo De Marco's characters. He served in the army during World War I and then went back to acting to develop the trademarks of his style. In 1937, he appeared in his first movie "Fermo con le mani", and later starred in 96 more films, many of which are still frequently broadcast on Italian television. In his vast cinematographic career, Totò had the opportunity to act side by side with virtually all major Italian actors of the time. Totò's unmistakable figure, with his peculiarly irregular face (due to an accident in his teen years), and his unique trademark ability to disarticulate his body like a marionette, soon became very popular and his comic gags became part of the Italian culture. Totò died at the age of 69 in Rome after a series of heart attacks. Due to overwhelming popularity there were three funeral services: the first in Rome, and the second and third in Naples. Totò's birth home has been recently opened to the public as a museum.
Totò was born Antonio Clemente in a poor district of Naples, the illegitimate son of Anna Clemente from Sicily and Marquis Giuseppe De Curtis from Naples. Nicknamed “il principe della risata’ (the prince of laughter), he was an Italian comedian, film and theatre actor, writer, singer and songwriter, and widely considered one of the greatest Italian artists of the 20th century. While he first gained his popularity as a comic actor, his dramatic roles, poetry, and songs are all of cultural import; his style and a number of his recurring jokes and gestures have become universally known memes in Italy.
As a comic actor, Totò is classified as an heir of the Commedia dell'Arte tradition, and has been compared to such figures as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. At the age of 15, he was already acting as a comedian in small theatres, under the pseudonym "Clerment". His early repertoire mostly consisted in imitations of Gustavo De Marco's characters. He served in the army during World War I and then went back to acting to develop the trademarks of his style.
In 1937, he appeared in his first movie "Fermo con le mani", and later starred in 96 more films, many of which are still frequently broadcast on Italian television. In his vast cinematographic career, Totò had the opportunity to act side by side with virtually all major Italian actors of the time. Totò's unmistakable figure, with his peculiarly irregular face (due to an accident in his teen years), and his unique trademark ability to disarticulate his body like a marionette, soon became very popular and his comic gags became part of the Italian culture. Totò died at the age of 69 in Rome after a series of heart attacks. Due to overwhelming popularity there were three funeral services: the first in Rome, and the second and third in Naples. Totò's birth home has been recently opened to the public as a museum.
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Filmography
We Are Cinema
2021
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as Self (archive footage)
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Age: 123
Hollywood sul Tevere
2009
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as
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Age: 111
SuperTotò
1980
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as
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Age: 82
Antologia di Totò
1978
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as Totò (se stesso)
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Age: 79
What Are the Clouds?
1968
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as Iago
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Age: 70
Rita the American Girl
1965
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as Serafino Benvenuti
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Age: 67
The Mandrake
1965
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as il frate
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Age: 67
Latin Lovers
1965
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as Rag. Antonio Gargiulo (ep. Amore e morte)
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Age: 67
Totò d'Arabia
1965
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as Totò
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Age: 67
Beautiful Families
1964
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as Filiberto Comanducci
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Age: 66
What Ever Happened to Baby Toto?
1964
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as Totò Baby / il Padre
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Age: 66
Laughs Italian Style
1964
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as
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Age: 66
Totò versus the Black Pirate
1964
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as Josè
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Age: 66
The Commandant
1963
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as Col. Antonio Cavalli
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Age: 65
Gli onorevoli
1963
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as Antonio La Trippa
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Age: 65
Toto and Cleopatra
1963
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as Marc'Antonio / Totonno
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Age: 65
Totò sexy
1963
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as Nini Cantachiaro
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Age: 65
Le motorizzate
1963
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as Urbano Cacace (segment "Il Vigile Ignoto")
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Age: 65
The Monk of Monza
1963
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as Pasquale Cicciacalda / Don Manuel
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Age: 65
Totò vs the Four
1963
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as commissario Antonio Saracino
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Age: 65
The Shortest Day
1963
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as frate bersagliere
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Age: 65
Two Colonels
1963
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as Colonnello Di Maggio
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Age: 64
Toto at Night
1962
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as Nini
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Age: 64
Totò e Peppino divisi a Berlino
1962
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as Antonio La Puzza / Amministratore di Canarinis
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Age: 64
Lo smemorato di Collegno
1962
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as lo smemorato
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Age: 64
Totò diabolicus
1962
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as Galeazzo / Carlo / Scipione / Antonio / Laudomia / Pasquale
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Age: 64
Totò versus Maciste
1962
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as Totokamen
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Age: 64
The Two Marshals
1961
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as Antonio Capurro
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Age: 63
Totòtruffa '62
1961
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as Antonio LoRuffo
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Age: 63
Sua Eccellenza si fermò a mangiare
1961
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as Dott. Biagio Tanzarella
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Age: 63
Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life
1961
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as Antonio Barbacane
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Age: 63
He Who Hesitates Is Lost
1960
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as Antonio Guardalavecchia
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Age: 62
The Passionate Thief
1960
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as Umberto 'Infortunio' Pennazzuto
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Age: 62
Letto a tre piazze
1960
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as Antonio Di Cosimo
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Age: 62
Toto, Fabrizi and the Young People Today
1960
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as Cavalier Antonio Cocozza
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Age: 62
Signori si nasce
1960
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as Ottone Degli Ulivi, detto Zazà
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Age: 62
Noi duri
1960
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as L'Algerino
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Age: 62
La cambiale
1959
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as Cesare Posalaquaglia
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Age: 61
You're on Your Own
1959
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as Il nonno illuminato
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Age: 61
The Thieves
1959
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as Commissario Di Savio
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Age: 61
The Overtaxed
1959
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as Torquato Pezzella
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Age: 61
Toto in Madrid
1959
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as Totò Scorceletti
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Age: 60
Totò in the Moon
1958
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as Pasquale Belafronte
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Age: 60
Toto in Paris
1958
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as Marchese Gastone de Chemantel / Chateau-Boiron / il vagabondo Totò
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Age: 60
The Law Is the Law
1958
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as Giuseppe La Paglia
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Age: 60
Legs of Gold
1958
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as Barone Luigi Fontana
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Age: 60
Totò, Peppino e le fanatiche
1958
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as Antonio Vignarello
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Age: 60
Big Deal on Madonna Street
1958
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as Dante Cruciani
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Age: 60
Toto and Marcellino
1958
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as Il Professore
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Age: 60
Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge
1956
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as Antonio
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Age: 58
Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy
1956
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as Antonio Caponi
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Age: 58
Totò Double or Nothing?
1956
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as Duca Gagliardo della Forcoletta
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Age: 58
The Band of Honest Men
1956
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as Antonio Buonocore
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Age: 58
Il coraggio
1955
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as Gennaro Vaccariello
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Age: 57
Roman Tales
1955
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as Professor Semprini
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Age: 57
Destinazione Piovarolo
1955
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as Antonio La Quaglia
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Age: 57
Are We Men or Corporals?
1955
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as Totò Esposito
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Age: 57
Totò all'inferno
1955
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as Antonio Marchi
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Age: 57
Toto and Carolina
1955
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as Antonio Caccavallo
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Age: 57
Variety carousel
1955
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as
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Age: 56
Totò Seeks Peace
1954
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as Gennaro Piselli
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Age: 56
The Gold of Naples
1954
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as Don Saverio Petrillo (segment "Il guappo")
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Age: 56
Il medico dei pazzi
1954
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as Felice Sciosciammocca
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Age: 56
The Three Thieves
1954
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as Tapioca
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Age: 56
Poverty and Nobility
1954
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as Don Felice Sciosciammocca
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Age: 56
The Anatomy of Love
1954
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as Dionillo
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Age: 56
Where Is Freedom?
1954
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as Salvatore Lojacono
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Age: 56
Of Life and Love
1954
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as Rosario Chiarchiaro
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Age: 55
Funniest Show on Earth
1953
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as Tottons
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Age: 55
Una di quelle
1953
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as Rocco Bardelli
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Age: 55
Neapolitan Turk
1953
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as Felice Sciosciammocca
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Age: 55
Man, Beast and Virtue
1953
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as Prof. Paolino
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Age: 55
47 Talking Corpses
1950
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as Il barone Antonio Peletti
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Age: 52
Toto the Sheik
1950
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as Antonio Sapone
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Age: 52
Le sei mogli di Barbablù
1950
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as Totò Esposito
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Age: 52
Tototarzan
1950
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as Antonio Della Buffas
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Age: 52
Figaro qua... Figaro là
1950
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as Figaro
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Age: 52
Side Street Story
1950
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as Pasquale Miele
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Age: 52
Totò Looking for Wife
1950
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as Totò
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Age: 52
The Rape of the Sabine
1945
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as Aristide Tromboni
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Age: 47
L'allegro fantasma
1941
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as Nicolino & Gelsomino & Antonino
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Age: 43