
Biography
Vittorio De Sica ( də SEE-kə, Italian: [vitˈtɔːrjo de ˈsiːka]; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement.Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: Sciuscià and Bicycle Thieves (honorary), while Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow and Il giardino dei Finzi Contini won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Indeed, the great critical success of Sciuscià (the first foreign film to be so recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) and Bicycle Thieves helped establish the permanent Best Foreign Film Award. These two films are considered part of the canon of classic cinema. Bicycle Thieves was cited by Turner Classic Movies as one of the 15 most influential films in cinema history.De Sica was also nominated for the 1957 Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing Major Rinaldi in American director Charles Vidor's 1957 adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, a movie that was panned by critics and proved a box office flop. De Sica's acting was considered the highlight of the film.
Personal Life
His passion for gambling was well known. Because of it, he often lost large sums of money and accepted work that might not otherwise have interested him. He never kept his gambling a secret from anyone; in fact, he projected it on characters in his own movies, like Count Max (which he acted in but did not direct) and The Gold of Naples, as well as in General Della Rovere, a film directed by Rossellini in which De Sica played the title role.In 1937 Vittorio De Sica married the actress Giuditta Rissone, who gave birth to their daughter, Emilia (Emi). In 1942, on the set of Un garibaldino al convento, he met Spanish actress María Mercader (cousin of Ramon Mercader, Leon Trotsky's assassin), with whom he started a relationship. After divorcing Rissone in France in 1954, he married Mercader in 1959 in Mexico, but this union was not considered valid under Italian law. In 1968 he obtained French citizenship and married Mercader in Paris. Meanwhile, he had already had two sons with her: Manuel, in 1949, a musician, and Christian, in 1951, who would follow his father's path as an actor and director.He was a Roman Catholic and a communist. Although divorced, De Sica never parted from his first family. He led a double family life, with double celebrations on holidays. It is said that, at Christmas and on New Year's Eve, he used to put back the clocks by two hours in Mercader's house so that he could make a toast at midnight with both families. His first wife agreed to keep up the facade of a marriage so as not to leave her daughter without a father.Vittorio De Sica died at 73 after surgery due to lung cancer at the Neuilly-sur-Seine hospital in Paris.
Filmography
All 176
Movies 174
Director 30
Self 11
Producer 3
TV shows 2
Self

Sophia Loren, une destinée particulière (2019)
Movie
Himself (archive footage)

1960 (2010)
Movie
Himself (archive footage)

Vittorio D. (2009)
Movie
Himself (archive footage)

Filmmakers vs. Tycoons (2005)
Movie

How We Got the Italian Movie Business Into Trouble: The True Story of Franco and Ciccio (2004)
Movie
Self (archive footage)

Cesare Zavattini (2003)
Movie
Himself

Bellissimo: Images of the Italian Cinema (1985)
Movie
Himself (archive footage)

My Name Is Anna Magnani (1980)
Movie
(archive footage)

Un sorriso, uno schiaffo, un bacio in bocca (1975)
Movie
Self

We All Loved Each Other So Much (1974)
Movie
Marquis Di Fiore

Blood for Dracula (1974)
Movie
6
Director

The Voyage (1974)
Movie
Actor

Viaggia, ragazza, viaggia, hai la musica nelle vene (1973)
Movie
Director

A Brief Vacation (1973)
Movie
Maresciallo Cenciarelli

Storia de fratelli e de cortelli (1973)
Movie
Mauro Del Giudice

The Assassination of Matteotti (1973)
Movie
Director

We'll Call Him Andrea (1972)
Movie
Milord

Scandal Man (1972)
Movie
Enrico Dolphi

Snow Job (1972)
Movie
Giove

Hector the Mighty (1972)
Movie
Giuseppe Mancini 'Pulcinella'

We Are All in Temporary Liberty (1971)
Movie
Enrico Formichi

Trastevere (1971)
Movie
Player in Venice casino

Io non vedo, tu non parli, lui non sente (1971)
Movie
self

Samedi soir (1971)
TV show
Don Michele

Cose di Cosa Nostra (1971)
Movie
Director

The Couples (1970)
Movie
Director

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970)
Movie
3.5
Producer

Io e Dio (1970)
Movie
Director

Sunflower (1970)
Movie
Carlo De Seta - The Commendatore

Twelve Plus One (1969)
Movie
Shoemaker

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969)
Movie
Director

A Place for Lovers (1968)
Movie
Cardinal Rinaldi

The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968)
Movie
Le comte de Bièvre - le père de Caroline

Dear Caroline (1968)
Movie
Cesare Celli

The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968)
Movie
Giuseppe's Father

An Italian in America (1967)
Movie
Director

Woman Times Seven (1967)
Movie
Director

The Witches (1967)
Movie
Actor

Gli altri, gli altri e noi (1967)
Movie
Director

After the Fox (1966)
Movie
Self

Man of Three Worlds: Luchino Visconti (1966)
Movie
Director

Un monde nouveau (1966)
Movie
Commendator Trepossi

Me, Me, Me... and the Others (1966)
Movie
Interviewee

Max Ophuls ou Le plaisir de tourner (1965)
Movie
der Graf

The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965)
Movie
Thanks

Tokyo Olympiad (1965)
Movie
Director

Marriage Italian Style (1964)
Movie
6
Director

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963)
Movie
3.5
Director

The Boom (1963)
Movie
Director

The Condemned of Altona (1962)
Movie
(uncredited)

Eva (1962)
Movie
Director

Boccaccio '70 (1962)
Movie
Bancroft

Lafayette (1962)
Movie
Maresciallo Vittorio Cottone

The Two Marshals (1961)
Movie
Colonnello Filippo Bitossi

The Orderly (1961)
Movie
Genie

The Wonders of Aladdin (1961)
Movie
Director

The Last Judgment (1961)
Movie

Vive Henri IV... vive l'amour! (1961)
Movie
Salvatore, the 'Capintesta'

L'onorata società (1961)
Movie
Director

Two Women (1960)
Movie
1
le réalisateur

Love in Rome (1960)
Movie
Il sindaco

The Traffic Policeman (1960)
Movie
Joe

The Millionairess (1960)
Movie
Il colonello Piero Cuocolo

Le pillole di Ercole (1960)
Movie
Colonel Belalcazar

Three Etc.'s and the Colonel (1960)
Movie
Mario Vitale

It Started in Naples (1960)
Movie
le pape Pie VII

Austerlitz (1960)
Movie
The prince

Gastone (1960)
Movie
Gen. Clave

The Angel Wore Red (1960)
Movie
Salvatore Caputo

Ferdinand I King of Naples (1959)
Movie
Bardone AKA 'Grimaldi'

General Della Rovere (1959)
Movie
Ricco Poccari

The Four Just Men (1959)
TV show
The O. I. M. P. President

The Moralist (1959)
Movie
Director Pietro Giordani

Il mondo dei miracoli (1959)
Movie
Maurice

Winter Holidays (1959)
Movie
Il prestigiatore con il piccione (uncredited)

Policarpo, ufficiale di scrittura (1959)
Movie
Marchese Nicola Peccori Macinelli di Afragola

Men and Noblemen (1959)
Movie

Il nemico di mia moglie (1959)
Movie
Alfredo

Venetian Honeymoon (1959)
Movie
Spartaco

Nel blu dipinto di blu (1959)
Movie
Maresciallo Carotenuto

Bread, Love and Andalucia (1958)
Movie
Armando Conforti

The Girl of San Pietro Square (1958)
Movie
Il professore

The Inveterate Bachelor (1958)
Movie
Il comandante Ernesto De Rossi

Cannon Serenade (1958)
Movie
Don Luigi

Fast and Sexy (1958)
Movie
Comandante Castaldi

Domenica è sempre domenica (1958)
Movie
Vittorio Bonelli

Love and Chatter (1958)
Movie
Self

Orson Welles at Large: Portrait of Gina (1958)
Movie
Marchese De Vitti

Totò, Vittorio and the Doctor (1957)
Movie
Ingegner Occhipinti

Holiday Island (1957)
Movie
Major Alessandro Rinaldi

A Farewell to Arms (1957)
Movie
Antonio Locoratolo

Doctor and the Healer (1957)
Movie
Alexandre Gordy

Paris Casino (1957)
Movie
Console Bordogin

La donna che venne dal mare (1957)
Movie
Conte Max Orsini Varaldo

Il conte Max (1957)
Movie

It Happened in Rome (1957)
Movie
Giorgio Vasari

The Guilty (1957)
Movie
Vincenzo Corallo

Fathers and Sons (1957)
Movie
Count Dino della Fiaba

The Monte Carlo Story (1956)
Movie
Aristide Rossi

Time of Vacation (1956)
Movie
Director

The Roof (1956)
Movie
Seneca

Nero's Mistress (1956)
Movie
Banchiere Antonelli

I giorni più belli (1956)
Movie
Honorable Prince / Attorney Prince

The Bigamist (1956)
Movie
Alfredo Celimontani, il guitto squattrinato

Noi siamo le colonne (1956)
Movie
Comandante Carotenuto

Scandal in Sorrento (1955)
Movie
1
Mazzoni Baralla - the lawyer

Roman Tales (1955)
Movie
Don Teofilo - governatore

The Miller's Beautiful Wife (1955)
Movie
Carlo Reani

It Happens in Roma (1955)
Movie
Alessio Spano

The Sign of Venus (1955)
Movie
Vittorio Stroppiani

Too Bad She's Bad (1955)
Movie
Maresciallo Carotenuto

Frisky (1954)
Movie
3.67
Il generale

The Cheerful Squadron (1954)
Movie
Director

The Gold of Naples (1954)
Movie
Antonio Valli

Modern Virgin (1954)
Movie
Gregory Stefanovich Smirnov

Il matrimonio (1954)
Movie
Roberto (segment "Divorce, Le")

The Secrets of the Bed (1954)
Movie
Il conte Ferdinando (segment "Don Corradino")

A Slice of Life (1954)
Movie

Gran varietà (1954)
Movie
Duca

100 Years of Love (1954)
Movie
Maresciallo Carotenuto

Bread, Love and Dreams (1953)
Movie
1.33
L'avvocato Arturo Cavazzuti (segment: Incidente a Villa Borghese)

It Happened in the Park (1953)
Movie
Baron Fabrizio Donati

The Earrings of Madame de... (1953)
Movie
1
Director / Executive Producer

Terminal Station (1953)
Movie
Director

Indiscretion of an American Wife (1953)
Movie
Carlo Caretti

Hello Elephant (1952)
Movie
Director

Umberto D. (1952)
Movie
6
Defense Advocate (segment 'Il processo di Frine')

Times Gone By (1952)
Movie
Leonardo Leonardi

Position Wanted (1951)
Movie
Director

Miracle in Milan (1951)
Movie
Producer

Mamma mia, che impressione! (1951)
Movie
Professor Landi

Tomorrow Is Too Late (1950)
Movie
Paolo Morelli

Il mondo vuole così (1949)
Movie
Director

Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Movie
5
Il maestro Perboni

Cuore (1948)
Movie
Leo, l'ateo

Lo sconosciuto di San Marino (1948)
Movie
Don Vicenzino

Christmas at Camp 119 (1947)
Movie
Nunzio

Sperduti nel buio (1947)
Movie
Il conte Ghirani

Peddlin' in Society (1946)
Movie
Il signore distinto

Rome: Free City (1946)
Movie
Director

Shoeshine (1946)
Movie
Adriano Lari

Lo sbaglio di essere vivo (1945)
Movie
Director

The Gate of Heaven (1945)
Movie

No One Comes Back (1945)
Movie
Director

The Children Are Watching Us (1944)
Movie
Leo

Our Dreams (1943)
Movie
Director

A Garibaldian in the Convent (1942)
Movie
Pietro Kovach

If I Was Honest (1942)
Movie
Fabrizio Marchini

L'avventuriera del piano di sopra (1941)
Movie
Director

Teresa Venerdì (1941)
Movie
Alfredo Hartman

Maddalena... zero in condotta (1940)
Movie
Alberto Verani

Red Roses (1940)
Movie
Il conte Corrado Valli

Pazza di gioia (1940)
Movie
Renato Des Grieux

Manon Lescaut (1940)
Movie
Pietro Bandelli

The Sinner (1940)
Movie
Alberto Milnar

Finisce sempre così (1939)
Movie
Bruno Zacchi

Department Store (1939)
Movie
Riccardo Pietramola

Castles in the Air (1939)
Movie
Salvatore

Le due madri (1938)
Movie
L'attore cinematografico

Hanno rapito un uomo (1938)
Movie

The Cuckoo Clock (1938)
Movie
Stefano San Mauro / Il figlio di San Mauro

La mazurca di papà (1938)
Movie
Gianni / Max Varaldo

Mister Max (1937)
Movie
Pio Fardella

The Man Who Smiles (1937)
Movie
Memmo Speranza

But It's Nothing Serious (1937)
Movie
Il dottore Alberto Spinelli

I Don't Know You Anymore (1936)
Movie
Prof. Giovanni Pagano

Amo te sola (1935)
Movie
Gold

I'll Give a Million (1935)
Movie
Il professore Giacomo Banti

Full Speed (1934)
Movie
Paladino, il avvocato

La canzone del sole (1934)
Movie
Dr. Giuseppe Paladino

Das Lied der Sonne (1933)
Movie
Mister Brown

Due cuori felici (1932)
Movie
Bruno

What Scoundrels Men Are! (1932)
Movie
Prof. Rosolillo

La compagnia dei matti (1928)
Movie
Pierre Clémenceau bambino

The Clemenceau Affair (1917)
Movie
Mario Esposito

Napoli d'altri tempi
Movie
Gallery



Information
Known for Directing
Gender Male
Birthday 1901-07-07
Deathday 1974-11-13 (73 years old)
Birth name Vittorio Domenico Stanislao Gaetano Sorano De Sica
Place of birth Sora, Lazio, Italy
Religion Catholic Church
Relationships María Mercader (1959-01-01 - 1974-01-01), Giuditta Rissone (1937-04-10 - 1954-01-01)
Children Manuel De Sica, Christian De Sica, Emi De Sica, Vicky Lagos
Siblings Elmo De Sica
Relatives Achille Campanile
Citizenships Kingdom of Italy, Italy
Awards Jussi Awards, Nastro d'Argento for Best Director, Kinema Junpo, Bodil Awards, Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Foreign Film, Leopard for Best Direction, Nastro d'Argento for Best Actor, David di Donatello for Best Director, Nastro d'Argento for Best Screenplay, National Board of Review Award for Best Film, National Board of Review Award for Best Director, San Francisco International Film Festival, Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards 1972, Palme d'Or, Golden Bear, David di Donatello for Best Actor, Academy Awards

Vittorio De Sica
Biography
Filmography
Information
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