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.
124 movies · 1 shows
Totò e il Principe De Curtis - L'uomo oltre la maschera
2023·0.0
We Are Cinema
2021·9.5
Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita
2021·7.3
Siamo tutti Alberto Sordi?
2020·6.8
Naples '44
2016·5.7
Hollywood sul Tevere
2009·0.0
How We Got the Italian Movie Business Into Trouble: The True Story of Franco and Ciccio
2004·6.8
SuperTotò
1980·8.0
Antologia di Totò
1978·0.0
Forza Italia!
1977·8.0
Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti
1977·9.0
Un sorriso, uno schiaffo, un bacio in bocca
1975·4.8
Caprice Italian Style
1968·6.1
What Are the Clouds?
1968·8.5
Totò Story
1968·6.4
Tutto Totò - Il tuttofare
1967·6.1
Tutto Totò - Totò a Napoli
1967·5.5
Tutto Totò - Totò Ciak
1967·5.9
Tutto Totò - Totò Ye Ye
1967·4.8
Il latitante
1967·6.2
Tutto Totò - Il grande maestro
1967·5.8
The Witches
1967·6.0
The Earth As Seen from the Moon
1967·8.2
Tutto Totò - La scommessa
1967·5.7
Tutto Totò - Don Giovannino
1967·5.6
Tutto Totò - Premio Nobel
1967·6.4
The Treasure of San Gennaro
1966·7.4
The Hawks and the Sparrows
1966·7.2
Rita the American Girl
1965·5.6
The Mandrake
1965·5.8
Latin Lovers
1965·6.1
Totò d'Arabia
1965·6.3
Beautiful Families
1964·6.7
What Ever Happened to Baby Toto?
1964·6.6
Laughs Italian Style
1964·5.9
Totò versus the Black Pirate
1964·6.4
The Commandant
1963·6.9
Gli onorevoli
1963·6.8
Toto and Cleopatra
1963·6.7
Totò sexy
1963·5.2
Le motorizzate
1963·6.0
The Monk of Monza
1963·7.0
Totò vs the Four
1963·6.7
The Shortest Day
1963·6.4
Two Colonels
1963·7.5
Toto at Night
1962·6.0
Totò e Peppino divisi a Berlino
1962·6.6
Lo smemorato di Collegno
1962·6.7
Totò diabolicus
1962·7.2
Totò versus Maciste
1962·6.5
The Two Marshals
1961·7.2
Totòtruffa '62
1961·7.6
Sua Eccellenza si fermò a mangiare
1961·6.7
Totò, Peppino and... the Sweet Life
1961·6.8
He Who Hesitates Is Lost
1960·6.9
The Passionate Thief
1960·6.9
Letto a tre piazze
1960·7.0
Toto, Fabrizi and the Young People Today
1960·7.2
Signori si nasce
1960·7.1
Noi duri
1960·6.7
La cambiale
1959·6.6
You're on Your Own
1959·7.2
The Thieves
1959·5.7
The Overtaxed
1959·7.1
Toto in Madrid
1959·6.5
Totò in the Moon
1958·5.7
Toto in Paris
1958·6.3
The Law Is the Law
1958·7.2
Legs of Gold
1958·5.7
Totò, Peppino e le fanatiche
1958·6.6
Big Deal on Madonna Street
1958·8.1
Toto and Marcellino
1958·6.4
Totò, Vittorio and the Doctor
1957·5.4
Totò, Peppino e i fuorilegge
1956·7.6
Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy
1956·8.0
Totò Double or Nothing?
1956·7.0
The Band of Honest Men
1956·7.7
Il coraggio
1955·6.6
Roman Tales
1955·6.1
Destinazione Piovarolo
1955·6.9
Are We Men or Corporals?
1955·6.7
Totò all'inferno
1955·6.3
Toto and Carolina
1955·6.5
Variety carousel
1955·6.8
Totò Seeks Peace
1954·6.5
The Gold of Naples
1954·7.3
Il medico dei pazzi
1954·7.1
The Three Thieves
1954·6.5
Poverty and Nobility
1954·8.0
The Anatomy of Love
1954·6.4
Where Is Freedom?
1954·6.5
Of Life and Love
1954·6.4
Funniest Show on Earth
1953·6.2
Una di quelle
1953·7.1
Neapolitan Turk
1953·7.3
Man, Beast and Virtue
1953·6.8
Toto and the Women
1952·6.8
Toto and the Kings of Rome
1952·7.0
Totó in color
1952·7.3
Cops and Robbers
1951·7.5
Seven Hours of Troubles
1951·6.4
Toto the Third Man
1951·6.5
47 Talking Corpses
1950·7.1
Toto the Sheik
1950·6.8
Le sei mogli di Barbablù
1950·5.4
Tototarzan
1950·6.0
Figaro qua... Figaro là
1950·6.2
Side Street Story
1950·7.4
Totò Looking for Wife
1950·6.3
Totò le Mokò
1949·6.9
The Emperor of Capri
1949·6.6
Totò Looking for a House
1949·6.8
Yvonne of the Night
1949·5.5
The Firemen of Viggiù
1949·5.7
Toto Tours Italy
1948·6.5
Fifa e arena
1948·6.7
Two Little Orphans
1947·6.0
Slave Girl
1947·7.5
The Rape of the Sabine
1945·6.0
Two Hearts Against the Beast
1943·5.9
L'allegro fantasma
1941·5.3
San Giovanni decollato
1940·6.7
Animal Crackers
1939·5.2
Hands Off Me!
1937·6.2