Thursday, February 19, 2009

RIP Oreste Lionello

ROME (AP) — Oreste Lionello, an entertainer and film dubber who was Italy's "voice" of Woody Allen, Jerry Lewis and other comic stars, died in a Rome hospital Thursday February 19, 2009 at the age of 81. Besides Allen and Lewis, other actors who were dubbed by Lionello included Peter Sellers, Marty Feldman and Charlie Chaplin in "The Great Dictator." Born on July 18, 1927 in Rhodes Greece, early in his entertainment career, Lionello worked in theater as a comic actor and in cabaret, where he was noted for his imitations of veteran Italian politician Giulio Andreotti. Lionello also worked successfully as an entertainer on Italian TV in the 1970s and 1980s. Lionella is the father of actresses Luca, Cristiana and Alessia Lionello. The city of Rome planned to hold a wake for Lionello in City Hall, starting Thursday night, with a funeral in the Basilica of Santa Maria d'Ara Coeli next to city hall on Saturday.

Oreste Lionello's European Westerns:
A Fistful of Dollars – 1964 [Italian voice of Juan de Dios character]
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 1966 [Italian voice of Antonio Palombi]
The Sons of Zorro – 1968 [Italian voice of Carlo Taranto]
In the Name of the Father – 1969 (Mambo)

7 comments:

  1. i still find it funny that italian actors' voices were dubbed by voice actors in italian films - and it drives me crazy when folks with distinctive vocal sounds like lionel stander or lee van cleef ended up dubbed by other voice actors in english language versions
    stevew

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  2. My dream would be to find an English language version of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST featuring Claudia Cardinale's voice.

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  3. thru dozens of viewings over more than twenty years i was unaware that it wasn't claudia speaking... when i found out i thought it was one of the better dubbing jobs done

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  4. I fell in love with Claudia years before ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST in English language films like CIRCUS WORLD, BLINDFOLD, DON'T MAKE WAVES and THE PROFESSIONALS. I loved her voice and to not hear it just about nullifies the effectiveness of her performance.

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  5. Hi Tom,

    Very cool site, I'm enjoying the earlier entries. Very nice dusty desert sand color scheme, too!

    Have you guys seen the recent Korean spaghetti western GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD? The Korean director is a real spaghetti devotee, and it shows. As I type, the whole film has been uploaded to Youtube. In this instance, most folks who have watched it have bcome keen(er) to buy it on DVD, so I figure the link is ok. Delete if inappropriate, Tom. It's strongly recommended viewing, anyway - very stylish, violent, and well made.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPISn6Aqd_E&feature=PlayList&p=6086DC06C0CD2D3F&index=0&playnext=1

    Adios companeros.

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  6. Biltmore:Tom Which part did Palumbi appear as in GUB. Palumbi is also listed as appearing in OAUATITW.

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  7. Someone on Shobary's site states that Palumbi is the sentry from the missing scene where he stops the coach carrying Tuco and Blondie. If true he would be the station master at Cattle Corner in OUATITW. I've always heard this actor was retired Brit living in Almeria. That doesn't mean he can't have an Italian name. So this information is still up for discussion.

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