Prince
Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi De Curtis di Bisanzio, best known by his stage name
Totò (; 15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967) or as
Antonio De Curtis, and nicknamed
il Principe della risata ("the Prince of laughter"), was an Italian comedian, film and theatre actor, writer, singer and songwriter. He is 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, his poetry, and his songs are all deemed to be outstanding; his style and a number of his recurring jokes and gestures have become universally known
memes in Italy. Writer and philosopher
Umberto Eco has thus commented on the importance of Totò in
Italian culture:
Mario Monicelli, who directed some of the most appreciated of Totò's movies, thus described his artistic value:
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. He starred in about one hundred movies; while many of them were low profile,
box-office driven productions, they tend to be all appreciated by the critics, at the very least, for Totò's performances many classify as masterpieces of Italian cinema. Prominent Italian directors and actors that have worked with Totò include
Mario Monicelli,
Alberto Lattuada,
Pier Paolo Pasolini,
Eduardo De Filippo,
Peppino de Filippo,
Aldo Fabrizi,
Vittorio De Sica,
Sophia Loren,
Claudia Cardinale,
Marcello Mastroianni,
Nino Manfredi,
Vittorio Gassman and
Alberto Sordi.