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Gigi Ballista

Acting Born Dec 1, 1918 Florence, Tuscany, Italy 24 credits

Biography

Gigi Ballista (1 December 1918 – 2 August 1980) was an Italian film and television actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1961 and 1980.

Born in Florence, Ballista graduated in Law, then he started working as a PR consultant in the field of advertising and industrial documentaries. He debuted as an actor at a mature age in the early 1960s with some minor roles, but his breakout came in 1966 with a role of weight in Pietro Germi's The Birds, the Bees and the Italians.

Following the critical and commercial success of the film, Ballista decided to pursue a professional career as an actor, and he became, mainly thanks to his characteristic hoarse and dysphonic voice, one of the most recognizable character actors in Italian cinema and television.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Gigi Ballista, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Known for

Film

Midnight Express

as Chief Judge

Full filmography

  • Salon Kitty (1976) as Nazi General
  • Midnight Express (1978) as Chief Judge
  • Under the Sheets (1976) as Professor Ciotti
  • The Family Vice (1975) as Conte Giosuè
  • How I Learned to Love Women (1966) as sir Archibald
  • Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia (1974) as doctor
  • Stavisky... (1974) as Gaston Henriet
  • Policewoman (1974) as avvocato
  • Giovannona Long-Thigh (1973) as Commendatore La Noce
  • Il furto della gioconda (1978) as Poupardin
  • The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1970) as Padre Polenta
  • Confessions of a Lady Cop (1976) as Questore Moretti
  • Roma bene (1971) as Vitozzi
  • Italian Sex (1974) as padre di Carletto
  • Il Circolo Pickwick (1968) as Nathaniel Winkle
  • Poker in Bed (1974) as comm. Gervasio Caminata
  • Black Turin (1972) as Marinotti
  • Lady Caliph (1970) as Il principe industriale
  • The Schoolmate (1977) as Girardi
  • La madama (1976) as The Venetian
  • The Maniacs (1964) as Count at the Party (segment "l'hobby") (uncredited)
  • Snow Job (1972)
  • Torture Me But Kill Me with Kisses (1968) as Engineer
  • The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (1966) as Giacinto Castellan