AMENDOLA, FERRUCCIO

(1930-2001)

Actor and dubber. Widely regarded as one of the finest male dubbers in Italy in the postwar period, Amendola began his career in pictures by playing a number of small roles in films such asMario Monicelli'sLa grande Guerra(The Great War, 1960) before becoming the regular Italian voice of

American superstars Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Sylvester Stallone, Peter Falk, and Bill Cosby, among others. Amendola's voicing of Robert De Niro in the Italian versions of Martin Scorsese'sTaxi Driver(1976) andRaging Bull(1980) and Michael Cimino'sThe Deer Hunter(1978) were highly praised, and there was something of a scandal when he was not chosen to dub De Niro again in 1996 in the Italian version of Scorsese'sCasino(the part was done by veteran stage and television actor Gigi Proietti). Amendola also played substantial roles in films for television such asStoria d'amore e di amicizia(Story of Love and Friendship, 1982), directed by Franco Rossi, and in a number of very popular television miniseries, among themQuer pasticciaccio brutto de Via Merulana(That Awful Mess on Via Merulana, 1982),Little Roma(Little Rome, 1988), andPronto soccorso(Medical Emergency, 1990 and 1992).