He was the embodiment of Romanity.
On Monday, comedian Luigi "Gigi" Proietti passed away at the Villa Margherita clinic in Rome on his 80th birthday.
While this Thursday his funeral is broadcast live on the Rai, tributes are increasing in the Eternal City and pouring in from all over Italy.
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For his film debut, he appeared in
Se Permete Parliamo di Donne
, Ettore Scola's very first feature film made in 1964. For the French, he was Bertrand Tavernier's Cardinal Mazarin in
The Daughter of D'Artagnan
(1994 ).
Last year Matteo Garrone had enlisted him in his
Pinocchio
, where he played the puppeteer Mangefeu.
The last role in a career of nearly 50 films.
In Rome, Gigi Proietti's smiling face is projected onto the Colosseum.
ANSA / ABACA
Gigi Proietti will also have left his mark on the boards, sometimes as an actor in
Le Marchand de Venise
,
Le Misanthrope
or even
Les Mamelles de Tiresias
by Apollinaire, sometimes as director of
Romeo et Juliette
et
Cyrano
, to never quote them.
He will also have conducted the most famous lyrical works such as
Tosca
,
Les Noces de Figaro
,
Carmen
or
Nabucco
.
Proietti was also known for his voice, which he lent to Robert de Niro in
Casino
, Sylvester Stallone in
Rocky
, but also to Genie in
Aladdin
.
He represented Rome to the world as only true Romans can.
Francesco Totti footballer
The
Globe Theater
renamed in his honor
In Rome, Gigi Proietti's smiling face is projected onto the Colosseum and the Senatorial Palace.
At 1 pm, his funeral procession crossed the city under the applause and the tears of the Roman people who greeted the artist and especially the man, proud representative of Roman culture, of its accent, its dialect and "tifoso" unconditional of AS Roma.
The route stopped inside the Globe Theater at Villa Borghese, founded in 2003 at the proposal of the actor.
The place should be renamed in his honor, announced the mayor of Rome and the foundation that had financed the construction.
He was a proud representative of Roman culture, of its accent, of its dialect.
Here, his photo is projected on the Senate Palace in Rome.
ANSA / ABACA
“It is a part of our Rome that is leaving, the real one, passionate and joyful. Gigi was tall, his smile has been and will remain unique, ”
declared ex-footballer Francesco Totti, emblematic captain of the yellow and red club and another king of Rome.
"He followed me throughout my career, he was a big fan of Roma and represented Rome in the world as only true Romans can do"
, added the "last king of Rome".
For its part, the club announced that it would finance the creation of a mural in the Tufello district which saw the artist grow up.
On Instagram, the Roman actor Pierfrancesco Favino (
Romanzo criminale
,
Anges et Démons
,
Le Traître
) dedicated a poem to him written in dialect.
Many personalities from all walks of life have also paid tribute to him, such as the singer Laura Pausini or the politicians Matteo Renzi and Luigi De Maio.
“With Gigi Proietti, it is not only one of the public's most beloved faces who is leaving, but also an extraordinary protagonist of our culture.
It is a genius of the spectacle which leaves us today, which knew how to amuse and move millions of Italians.
His disappearance makes the whole country suffer ”
, declared the President of the Italian Council Giuseppe Conte.
