Oreste Lionello (18 April 1927 – 19 February 2009) was an Italian actor and voice actor.[1]

Oreste Lionello
Lionello in 2007
Born(1927-04-18)18 April 1927
Died19 February 2009(2009-02-19) (aged 81)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • voice actor
  • cabaret performer
  • comedian
  • adapter
  • dubbing director
Years active1953–2009
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Children
  • Luca
  • Cristiana
  • Davide
  • Alessia
  • Fabio Luigi
  • Vivianna

Biography

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Lionello was born in Rhodes (which was then a possession of Italy), to Calabrian parents, and grew up in Reggio Calabria. He began his career as a theatre actor, and was considered amongst the founders of Italian cabaret. In 1953 he entered the Musical Theatrical Company of RAI (Italian state TV) and the following year he debuted in television with Marziano Filippo, a boys' show. In the 1960s, he was one of the founders of the Bagaglino comic theatre and TV company and he had found success as an entertainer on Italian TV in the 1970s and 1980s.[2] As an actor, Lionello acted in over 56 feature films and several television shows. He appeared in five episodes of Le avventure di Laura Storm and he made his debut film appearance in The Cheerful Squadron.[3]

As a voice actor, Lionello was the official Italian voice of Woody Allen. Other actors he dubbed included Charlie Chaplin, Groucho Marx, Dick Van Dyke, Peter Sellers, Gene Wilder, Michel Serrault, Donald Pleasence, Clive Revill, Gérard Depardieu, Rick Moranis and Roman Polanski. He also dubbed Robin Williams as Mork in the first two seasons of Mork & Mindy. In his animated roles, Lionello dubbed popular animated characters for Disney and Warner Bros. between the 1950s and 1970s. He was considered a pioneer of Italian voice dubbing and founded the C.V.D. along with Renato Turi, Giancarlo Giannini, Valeria Valeri, Corrado Gaipa and other dubbers.[4]

Personal life

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Lionello was married with six children, most of which followed in his footsteps. This includes Luca, Cristiana, Alessia and Davide, who are all actors and dubbers. His oldest son Fabio Luigi is a television director. He also had another daughter, Vivianna.[5]

Death

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Lionello died on 19 February 2009 in Rome at the age of 81 after a long illness and was buried at the Campo Verano.[6] Allen later paid tribute to him in an interview.[7][8]

After his death, the voice of Woody Allen was passed on to Leo Gullotta.[9]

Filmography

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Cinema

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Dubbing roles

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Animation

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Live action

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Work as dubbing director

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References

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  1. ^ "Oreste Lionello's voice acting and dubbing contributions". Il mondo dei doppiatori, antoniogenna.net (in Italian). Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Oreste Lionello". MYmovies. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Oreste Lionello - Attore - Biografia e Filmographia - Ecodelcinema". ecodelcinema.com. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  4. ^ Cronologia fondamentale dell'epoca d'oro del doppiaggio italiano Dagli albori agli anni 1970 (in Italian)
  5. ^ Oreste Lionello, dall’ex moglie Eliana all’ultima compagna Giuliana Graziani/ I sei figli (in Italian)
  6. ^ Movie dubber known as voice of Woody Allen dies
  7. ^ "È morto Oreste Lionello" (in Italian). Il mondo dei doppiatori. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Obituary: Oreste Lionello". theguardian.com. 10 March 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Leo Gullotta è la nuova voce di Woody Allen" (in Italian). newscinema.it. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
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