Roberto Villa (born Giulio Sabetta; 2 December 1915 – 30 June 2002) was an Italian actor and voice actor.

Roberto Villa
Villa in The Fornaretto of Venice (1939)
Born
Giulio Sabetta

(1915-12-02)2 December 1915
Died30 June 2002(2002-06-30) (aged 86)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • voice actor
Years active1936–1993
Spouse
Adriana Parrella
(m. 1952)

Biography

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Born in Casablanca, Villa completed his studies at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome and he eventually made his way up to acting.[1] He made his film debut in the 1936 film The Great Appeal directed by Mario Camerini. Villa acted in two other films throughout the course of the late 1930s which includes Luciano Serra, Pilot directed by Goffredo Alessandrini and The Fornaretto of Venice directed by Duilio Coletti.

Villa‘s likeness on the big screen was once compared to that of international actors such as Robert Montgomery and Robert Young. By the 1940s, Villa intensified his acting career and worked frequently with directors like Luigi Zampa, Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, Sergio Tofano and more.[2] Villa worked on stage frequently during the 1950s and moved on to television in the 1960s. He also worked as a voice dubbing artist, dubbing foreign films for release in Italy, most notably Robert Shaw’s voice.[3] Villa’s voice was dubbed in some of his films by Carlo Romano and Mario Pisu. He then retired from cinema and television altogether with his wife during the 1970s.

Personal life

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Villa was married to actress and director Adriana Parrella (who he met during a radio session in 1949) from 1952 until his death in 2002.

Villa had a passion for collecting seashells during his spare time.

Death

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Villa passed away in his home in Sutri following complications from pancreatitis on 30 June 2002. He was 86 years old.[4]

Filmography

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Cinema

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Television

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Dubbing roles

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Live action

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References

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  1. ^ "Roberto Villa". MYmovies. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Roberto Villa: Biografia Completa, Filmografia Completa, Scheda Attore" (in Italian). nientepopcorn.it. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  3. ^ Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. p.150.
  4. ^ "1/7/2002 – È morto l'attore Roberto Villa" (in Italian). sentieriselvaggi.it. 1 July 2002. Retrieved 3 May 2020.

Further reading

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  Media related to Roberto Villa at Wikimedia Commons