If you're shopping for movie posters in Rome, three, as we recall, are ubiquitous: Anita Ekberg cavorting in the Trevi Fountain in
La Dolce Vita (1960); Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck on a Vespa in
Roman Holiday (1953); and Alberto Sordi putting spaghetti into his mouth in
Un Americano a Roma (An American in Rome) [1954].
If you've never heard of Sordi, you're not alone, though if you expressed that ignorance to an Italian you'd be judged insane or demented. Sordi's illustrious career as an actor spanned 61 years and included 148 roles. Among his best-known films were
The White Sheik (1952) and
I Vitelloni (1953), both directed by Fellini, and
Lo Scapolo (The Bachelor) [1955] and
Un Borghese Piccolo (An Average Little Man) 1977, whose title suggests one of his most common roles. He also directed 18 films.
Sordi was Roman to the core--so much so, the story goes, that he was kicked out of Milan's dramatic arts academy for his thick Roman accent. He was born in Rome, raised in the quartiere of Garbatella and by his schoolteacher mother and musician father, and when he died in Rome in February 2003, more than a million people came to the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano to pay their respects (these days, an equal number appear in that square only for free rock concerts), and some 250,000 came to the funeral (right).
Garbatella remains proud of its native son. On one of its curvy streets, you'll find evidence of that pride: a wall-size painting, featuring Sordi's portrait and an abbreviated--if still impressively long--filmography.
Remember the name--Alberto Sordi, also known as Albertone (big Albert)--especially when talking to an Italian, especially in Rome, and above all in Garbatella.
Bill
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Alberto Sordi: a Roman in Rome
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