Nino Castelnuovo

Italian actor (1936–2021)

Nino Castelnuovo

Castelnuovo in 1967

Born|

Francesco Castelnuovo

(1936-10-28)28 October 1936[1]

Lecco, Italy[1]

Died| 6 September 2021(2021-09-06) (aged 84)

Rome, Italy

Occupation| Actor
Years active| 1957–2021

Francesco "Nino" Castelnuovo (28 October 1936 – 6 September 2021)[2] was an Italian actor of film, stage and television, best known for his starring role as Guy Foucher in the French musical film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964).[3]

Castelnuovo's other films include Rocco and His Brothers (1960), Camille 2000 (1969), L'emmerdeur (1973), Il prato macchiato di rosso (1973), Massacre Time (1966), The Five Man Army (1969), and The English Patient (1996).

## Early life

[edit]

Castelnuovo was born the youngest of three boys in Lecco, Lombardy as the son of maid Emilia Paola (née Sala) and button factory employee Camillo Castelnuovo.[3] He had two older brothers, Pierantonio (b. 1930; d. 1976) and Clemente. After being a house painter, a mechanic and a workman, he moved to Milan, where he started working as a sales agent, and at the same time, he enrolled in the acting school of the Piccolo Teatro in Milan.[1] He became a father for the first time to his son Lorenzo when he married Danila Trebbi (b. 1955), an Italian actress.

## Career

[edit]

In 1957, Castelnuovo debuted as a mime in the RAI children's television show Zurli il mago del giovedì.[1][4]

He landed a small part in The Facts of Murder (1959), directed by Pietro Germi, and played supporting roles in films, including The Hunchback of Rome, directed by Carlo Lizzani, and Rocco and His Brothers, directed by Luchino Visconti; both were released in 1960.[1]

When the American television show Disneyland travelled to Italy in 1962, he appeared with Annette Funicello in two episodes of the mini-movie, Escapade in Florence, singing, playing the guitar, and adding the Italian verses to the jovial tarantella "Dream Boy".[5]

Castelnuovo's breakthrough role arrived with The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), directed by Jacques Demy, in which he played opposite Catherine Deneuve.[3] Nominated for the American Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the film gained the attention of both film critics and the public, and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in February of the same year.[1]

Castelnuovo in 1968

After the box-office failures Un mondo nuovo (1966), directed by Vittorio De Sica, and The Reward, directed by Serge Bourguignon,[1] – he gained notice as an actor in Italy because of his role of Renzo in the television mini-series I promessi sposi (1967).[1][4]

He also starred alongside an international cast in The Five Man Army (1969), directed by Don Taylor, as a Mexican revolutionary, and as Armand in Camille 2000 (1969), directed by Radley Metzger.[6]

From then on, Castelnuovo was featured primarily on television serials around Europe, where he portrayed numerous parts.[1] He appeared as the athletically sound spokesman for the corn oil company Cuore from 1977 to 1982.[1]

Castelnuovo also appeared briefly as D'Agostino in The English Patient (1996), and he continued to be active on the Italian theatre stage. In 2002, he starred in a production of the 1931 comedy play The Front Page (Italian title, Prima Pagina).[7]

He appeared as Kenny Butler in the 2016 The Legacy Run with sport personalities Daniela Scalia, Luca Tramontin, Marco Baron, Flavien Conne, Ivan Asic, and Stefania Bianchini.

## Death

[edit]

Castelnuovo died on 6 September 2021 in Rome at the age of 84.

## Selected filmography

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1956 | The Virtuous Bigamist | Minor rôle | Uncredited
1959 | The Facts of Murder | L'Elettricista |
1960 | The Angel Wore Red | Capt. Trinidad | Uncredited
Rocco and His Brothers | Nino Rossi |
La garçonnière | Vincenzo |
Everybody Go Home | Codegato |
The Hunchback of Rome | Cencio |
1961 | Laura nuda | Franco - Laura's husband |
A Day for Lionhearts | Danilo |
Day by Day, Desperately | Gabriele Dominici |
1962 | Escapade in Florence | Bruno |
1963 | The Shortest Day | Corteggiatore | Uncredited
The Eye of the Needle | Nicola Badalà |
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg | Guy Foucher |
1964 | Una sporca faccenda |  |
The Cavern | Mario Scognamiglio |
1965 | The Double Bed | L'amant | Segment 2 "Le monstre"
The Reward | Luis |
Made in Italy | Dr. Gavino Piras | Segment "2 'Il Lavoro', episode 2")
1966 | Un monde nouveau | Carlo |
Andremo in città | Ivan, un partigiano |
Massacre Time | Jason 'Junior' Scott |
Les Créatures | Jean Modet |
1967 | On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who... | Marculfo |
1968 | Red Roses for the Fuhrer | Vincent |
1969 | Salvare la faccia | Mario |
Mercanti di vergini |  |
Love and Anger | The Director | Segment "L'amore"
The Five Man Army | Luis Dominguez |
Camille 2000 | Armand Duval |
Diary of a Telephone Operator | Piero |
1970 | The Divorce | Piero |
1971 | Bella di giorno moglie di notte | Giorgio |
1972 | Colpo grosso... grossissimo... anzi probabile | Sandro |
1973 | Il prato macchiato di rosso | A UNESCO agent |
L'emmerdeur | Bellhop |
The Sibyl Cipher [de] | Emilio Trenti |
1974 | Loving in the Rain | Giovanni |
1975 | Strip Nude for Your Killer | Carlo |
Amore mio spogliati... che poi ti spiego! | Giuliano |
That Malicious Age | Napoleone |
1975 | La collegiale | Marco |
1979 | Star Odyssey | Lt. Oliver 'Hollywood' Carrera |
1996 | The English Patient | D'Agostino |
2003 | Senza la parola fine |  |
2010 | Il sottile fascino del peccato | Padre di Giada |
2016 | The Legacy Run | Kenny Butler |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Enrico Lancia; Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi (2003). Dizionario del cinema italiano: Gli attori. Gremese Editore, 2003. ISBN 8884402131.
2. ^ "Nino Castelnuovo è morto a 84 anni: Fu Renzo ne I promessi sposi in tv, poi lo spot in cui salta la staccionata". 7 September 2021.
3. ^ a b c Gilbey, Ryan (19 September 2021). "Nino Castelnuovo obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
4. ^ a b F. Cappa; Piero Gelli; Marco Mattarozzi (1998). Dizionario dello spettacolo del '900. Dalai editore, 1998. ISBN 8880892959.
5. ^ Joan Crosby (9 June 1969). "Disney's Florence Escapade' Concludes". Pittsburgh Press.
6. ^ Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia; Mario Pecorari (1991). Dizionario del cinema italiano. I film. Gremese Editore, 1992. ISBN 8876055932.
7. ^ Valentina Grazzini (1 February 2003). "Prima pagina! Nino Castelnuovo a tu per tu con la commedia americana". L'Unità. Archived from the original on 13 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nino Castelnuovo.

* Nino Castelnuovo at IMDb
* Nino Castelnuovo at the TCM Movie Database

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