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Portrait: Mimmo Poli

Mimmo Poli

1922–1986 · Italian character actor

Biography

Mimmo Poli, born Domenico Poli, was one of the best-known and most active character actors in Italian cinema. Over a career of about thirty-five years he appeared in more than two hundred films. Sources do not agree on his year of birth, which is given as anywhere from 1920 to 1922, and he died on 4 April 1986, at the age of 65 according to one of them.

He began young on the stage, reciting in Roman dialect. His screen presence became regular in the 1950s, usually in small parts as a barman, a dockworker or a prisoner, often uncredited. He worked in popular comedies with Totò and with Franco and Ciccio, and also with more prestigious directors such as Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica and John Huston. His work runs from the films of the 1950s to productions of the 1970s, including those of Bernardo Bertolucci.

His last film appearance was in I soliti ignoti vent'anni dopo (1985). Serious health problems forced him to leave the screen in the mid-1980s. He is remembered as a familiar face of Italian cinema, whose supporting characters filled out the casts of his era.

Key films

  • Roman Holiday (1953)
  • Nights of Cabiria (1957)
  • Beat the Devil (1953)
  • Ulysses (1954)
  • Sodom and Gomorrah (1962)
  • 1900 (1976)

Trivia

Regular in Franco and Ciccio films

He appeared in several films starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio, which kept him visible in Italian popular cinema of the period.

A final appearance in 1985

His last known role was in I soliti ignoti vent'anni dopo, released in 1985, the year before his death.

On Cinematopedia

Roman Holiday1953Nights of Cabiria195719001976Beat the Devil1953Big Deal on Madonna Street1958La Cage aux Folles1978Fellini's Roma1972City of Women1980Ulysses1954Sodom and Gomorrah1962Sabata1969Spirits of the Dead1968

Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.