Profile of Federico Fellini on Famous Like Me

Federico Fellini (January 20, 1920 – October 31, 1993) was a famous Italian film-maker and director. Fellini's films typically combine memory, dreams, and fantasy.

Life and work

Born in Rimini, Fellini's first solo-directed film was Lo Sceicco Bianco (1951), with Alberto Sordi, written by Michelangelo Antonioni and Ennio Flaiano. In making this movie Fellini met Nino Rota, the musician who would follow him for the successful remainder of his career.

In addition to making films, he also wrote scripts for radio shows, for movies (mainly for Rossellini) and wrote comic gags for well known actors like Aldo Fabrizi. Fellini also produced several drawings (mostly pencil on paper), often humorous portraits. It is with these works that young Fellini encountered cinema: his first success was in drawing advertising pictures for movies.

During Fascism he was an Avanguardista, and his first writings were for Alleanza Cinematografica Italiana (ACI), the production company of Vittorio Mussolini, son of Benito, who introduced him to Roberto Rossellini, husband of Swedish-born actress Ingrid Bergman.

In 1944, when Fascism was over, Fellini opened a shop in Rome in which he sold his drawings. The shop was named (in English) "The Funny Face Shop", and contained works from Fellini and De Seta, Verdini, Camerini, Scarpelli, Majorana, Guasta, Giobbe, Attalo, Migneco (all writers, directors or otherwise intellectuals working for Italian cinema). In the same year he started his contribution to Rossellini's Roma città aperta, starring Aldo Fabrizi.

Fellini also took part in writing another of Rossellini's movies, Paisà. He wrote also for other directors such as Alberto Lattuada, Pietro Germi, and Luigi Comencini.

Fellini's wife, actress Giulietta Masina (married in 1943) was often in his movies. Other actors with whom Fellini frequently worked include Marcello Mastroianni, Alberto Sordi, and Anita Ekberg.

In 1945 Fellini had a son who survived for only 2 weeks; it was the only son of Fellini and Giulietta Masina.

In 1948 Fellini acted in Rossellini's Il Miracolo.

Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s his films received critical acclaim and he was rewarded with several Oscars.

In 1991 Fellini's text "Trip to Tulum" was translated into English by Stefano Gaudiano and published in a graphic form in the magazine: Crisis with artwork by Milo Manara.

In 1993 he received an Academy Award ("Oscar") for his lifetime achievement. That same year, he died in Rome at the age of 73.

The Federico Fellini International Airport in Rimini, is named in his honor.

Filmography as director

links to Fellini's drawings related to single films

• Luci del Varietà (1950) (co-credited with Alberto Lattuada)
• Lo Sceicco Bianco (1951)
• I Vitelloni (1953)
• L'Amore in Città (1953) (segment Un'agenzia matrimoniale)
• La Strada (1954) Oscar (best foreign movie)
• Il bidone (1955)
• Le Notti di Cabiria (1957) Oscar (best foreign movie)
• La Dolce Vita (1960) Oscar (best costumes)
• Boccaccio '70 (1962) (segment Le tentazioni del Dottor Antonio)
• 8½ (1963) 2 Oscars (best foreign movie, best costumes)
• Giulietta degli Spiriti (1965)
• Satyricon (1969)
• I Clowns (1970)
• Roma (1972)
• Amarcord (1973) Oscar (best foreign movie)
• Il Casanova di Federico Fellini (1976)
• Prova d'Orchestra (1979)
• La Citta' delle Donne (1980)
• E la Nave Va (1983)
• Ginger and Fred (1986)
• Intervista (1987)
• La Voce della Luna (1990)

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Federico Fellini