TOGNAZZI, RICKY

(1955-)

Actor and director. Son of veteran actorUgo Tognazzi, Ricky made his first appearance in films at the age of eight, playing his father's son in one of the episodes ofDino Risi'sI mostri(15 from Rome, 1963). He subsequently studied at the DAMS (Faculty of Communication) in Bologna before serving as an assistant on a number of films directed by, among others,Pupi Avati,Luigi Comencini, andMaurizio Ponzi. He also worked as an actor, playing his first significant part as a young nobleman in Ponzi'sQualcosa di biondo(Aurora by Night, 1984), for which he received theDavid di Donatelloaward for best supporting role.After appearing inEttore Scola'sLa famiglia(The Family, 1987) he made his directorial debut with the light social comedyPiccoli equivoci(Little Misunderstandings, 1988), for which he received both the David and theNastro d'argentofor Best New Director. He then turned to more socially committed themes withUltra(Hooligans, 1991), a powerful portrayal of the phenomenon of soccer hooliganism that was awarded both a David and the Silver Bear at Berlin;La scorta(The Escort, 1993), a film about an honest judge trying unsuccessfully to break the hold of the Sicilian Mafia; andVite strozzate(Strangled Lives, 1996), a thriller centered on the new social scourge of usury in Italy in the 1990s, the latter earning him another nomination for the Golden Bear at Berlin. AfterExcellent Cadavers(1999), a fictional portrait of the Mafia-fighting judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, made entirely in English for American television, Tognazzi changed direction somewhat withCanone inverso—making love(2000), the adaptation of a Holocaust novel by Paolo Maurensig. His most recent directorial effort has been the much-praisedIl Papa buono(John XXIII:The Good Pope, 2003), a fictional biography of Pope Roncalli, with English actor Bob Hoskins in the title role.