Lino Ventura(1919-1987)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
One of France's most beloved character stars from the 1950s through and
including the 1980s was the Italian-born Lino Ventura. Born Angiolino
Joseph Pascal Ventura to Giovanni Ventura and Luisa Borrini, on July
14, 1919, in Parma (northern) Italy, young Lino moved with his family
at a young age to Paris, where he grew up. A school dropout at age
eight, Lino drifted from job to job (mechanic's apprentice, etc.),
unable to decide on what to do for a living. Marrying in 1942 at age
23, he and wife Odette Ventura had four children.
Lino finally found a career calling as a Greek/Roman-styled wrestler
and went on to become a professional European champion in 1950. He was
forced to abandon this sporting life, however, after incurring a
serious injury in the ring. Looking for gangster types for his next
film, director Jacques Becker gave the
inexperienced 34-year-old his first acting job as bad guy support to
star Jean Gabin in the crime thriller
Touchez pas au grisbi (1954)
[Grisbi]. Gabin was impressed and did more than just encourage Lino to
pursue acting as a living. Lino went on to appear with Gabin in several
of the star's subsequent movies, often playing a gangster, including
Razzia (1955)
[Razzia],
Crime and Punishment (1956),
Speaking of Murder (1957) [Crime
and Punishment] and
Inspector Maigret (1958)
[Inspector Maigret].
A tough, brutish, burly-framed presence, Lino came into his own as a
tough-nut character star in the 1960s playing both sides of the moral
fence. Adept in both light comedy and dark-edged drama, he appeared in
scores of films now considered classic French cinema. His homely,
craggy-looking mug took the form of various criminals types as in
Second Wind (1966)
[Second Breath] and
Happy New Year (1973) [Happy New
Year], as well as dogged, good-guy inspectors in
The French Detective (1975) [The French
Detective],
Illustrious Corpses (1976)
[Illustrious Corpses'], and
The Grilling (1981). Lino bore a
patented weight-of-the-world-on-his-shoulders countenance that
audiences sympathized with, even when playing the arch-villain. Over
the course of three decades he built up an impressive gallery of
blue-collar protagonists. Not to be missed are his embittered, vengeful
husband in
Witness in the City (1959)
[Witness in the City]; corrupt police chief Tiger Brown in
Three Penny Opera (1963)
[The Threepenny Opera]; a WWII French Resistance fighter in
Army of Shadows (1969)
[Army in the Shadows]; and Mafia boss Vito Genovese in
Charles Bronson's
The Valachi Papers (1972),
among many, many others. Toward the end of his career he played Jean
Valjean in a French production of
Les Misérables (1982) for which he
received a Cesar award nomination (i.e, the French "Oscar"). He
performed practically until the time of his fatal heart attack in 1987
at age 68 in his beloved France. Survivors included his wife of 45
years and children. Daughter Mylene died in a plane crash in 1998 and
wife Odette died in 2013.
including the 1980s was the Italian-born Lino Ventura. Born Angiolino
Joseph Pascal Ventura to Giovanni Ventura and Luisa Borrini, on July
14, 1919, in Parma (northern) Italy, young Lino moved with his family
at a young age to Paris, where he grew up. A school dropout at age
eight, Lino drifted from job to job (mechanic's apprentice, etc.),
unable to decide on what to do for a living. Marrying in 1942 at age
23, he and wife Odette Ventura had four children.
Lino finally found a career calling as a Greek/Roman-styled wrestler
and went on to become a professional European champion in 1950. He was
forced to abandon this sporting life, however, after incurring a
serious injury in the ring. Looking for gangster types for his next
film, director Jacques Becker gave the
inexperienced 34-year-old his first acting job as bad guy support to
star Jean Gabin in the crime thriller
Touchez pas au grisbi (1954)
[Grisbi]. Gabin was impressed and did more than just encourage Lino to
pursue acting as a living. Lino went on to appear with Gabin in several
of the star's subsequent movies, often playing a gangster, including
Razzia (1955)
[Razzia],
Crime and Punishment (1956),
Speaking of Murder (1957) [Crime
and Punishment] and
Inspector Maigret (1958)
[Inspector Maigret].
A tough, brutish, burly-framed presence, Lino came into his own as a
tough-nut character star in the 1960s playing both sides of the moral
fence. Adept in both light comedy and dark-edged drama, he appeared in
scores of films now considered classic French cinema. His homely,
craggy-looking mug took the form of various criminals types as in
Second Wind (1966)
[Second Breath] and
Happy New Year (1973) [Happy New
Year], as well as dogged, good-guy inspectors in
The French Detective (1975) [The French
Detective],
Illustrious Corpses (1976)
[Illustrious Corpses'], and
The Grilling (1981). Lino bore a
patented weight-of-the-world-on-his-shoulders countenance that
audiences sympathized with, even when playing the arch-villain. Over
the course of three decades he built up an impressive gallery of
blue-collar protagonists. Not to be missed are his embittered, vengeful
husband in
Witness in the City (1959)
[Witness in the City]; corrupt police chief Tiger Brown in
Three Penny Opera (1963)
[The Threepenny Opera]; a WWII French Resistance fighter in
Army of Shadows (1969)
[Army in the Shadows]; and Mafia boss Vito Genovese in
Charles Bronson's
The Valachi Papers (1972),
among many, many others. Toward the end of his career he played Jean
Valjean in a French production of
Les Misérables (1982) for which he
received a Cesar award nomination (i.e, the French "Oscar"). He
performed practically until the time of his fatal heart attack in 1987
at age 68 in his beloved France. Survivors included his wife of 45
years and children. Daughter Mylene died in a plane crash in 1998 and
wife Odette died in 2013.