SIMI, CARLO

(1924-2000)

Costume, set, art, and production designer. After graduating in architecture from the University of Rome, Simi began working in the film industry as a set decorator, originally on a number of genre films directed bySergio Corbucci. In 1964, under the pseudonym Charles Simons, he designed the sets and costumes forSergio Leone'sPer un pugno di dollari(For a Fistful of Dollars, 1964) and continued to work with Leone on the latter's subsequent Westerns, receiving special praise for his production and costume design forCera una volta il West(Once upon a Time in the West, 1968). He then abandoned the cinema for several years in order to work as an architect, designing, among other things, the offices ofAlberto Grimaldi's Produzioni Europee Associate (PEA). He returned to the industry in the mid-1970s, working as art director on Sergio Sollima's action thrillerRevolver(Blood in the Streets, 1973) and collaborating with comic actor-directorCarlo Verdone, for whom he designed the sets and costumes ofUn sacco bello(Fun Is Beautiful, 1980). In 1985, having teamed up once again with Leone, Simi received aNastro d'argentofor his production design forCera una volta l'America(Once upon a Time in America, 1984). His last contribution to Italian cinema was the art direction onPupi Avati'sLa via degli angeli(A Midsummer's Night Dance, 1999).