RIP Mario Donatone

Farewell to the actor Mario Donatone, from the godfather of Godfather 3 to the films of Tomas Milian

Spettacolo.eu

By Ivan Zingariello

April 15, 2020

Dead is Mario Donatone, known character actor of Italian cinema, cast by Francis Ford Coppola as a hitman it The Godfather - Part III, unfailing presence in almost all movies with Tomas Milian , as well as actor and theater director.

Yesterday, April 14, another great character of Italian cinema, Mario Donatone, died in Rome. He was 86 years old and for some time his health conditions were precarious.

Born in Tripoli on June 9, 1933, Donatone was a multifaceted character, actor, director, author and presenter. He appeared in over 150 films, and worked with famous directors, but the role for which he is best remembered is that of the assassin Mosca, the fake priest who in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather - part III (1990) shoots Michael Corleone (Al Pacino). Of that experience he said that the famous director was enthusiastic about his audition and that his initial 7 days of contract then became 77, spread over 10 months between Italy and the United States. In 2010 on the occasion of the Roma Fiction Fest he had the opportunity to embrace Andy Garcia (protagonist of the film), appealing him with an affectionate «son 'and ndrocchia " (video at the bottom of the article).

He has worked with many important directors, including Giuseppe Tornatore in Il camorrista (1986), Damiano Damiani in L'angelo con la pistola (1992), Dario Argento in Phenomena (1985), Luchino Visconti in Bellissima (1951), Mario Monicelli in Laughter of joy (1960), Carlo Vanzina in SPQR - 2000 and ½ years ago (1994) and took part in international productions such as the aforementioned Godfather 3 and John Wick - Chapter 2 (2017) by Chad Stahelski, as well as many genre film, from Eva, the Wild Venus (1968) by Roberto Mauri to The Cross from the Seven Stones (1987) by Marco Antonio Andolfi.

But it is for the Corbucci brothers that Mario Donatone became an essential presence and their fetish actor, participating in a dozen films directed by Sergio, from Bluff the Story of Scams and Cheaters (1976) to Il conte Tacchia (1982) up to I am a Paranormal Phenomenon (1985), and even about twenty directed by Bruno, from Boccaccio (1972) to The Haunted House (1982) up to practically all those starring Tomas Milian in the role of Inspector Nico Giraldi, from anti-snatch team (1976) to Assassination on the Tiber (1979) from Crime on the Highway (1982) to Crime in Formula One (1984), with Donatone always used in a small different roles as a sort of joker.

Legal representative and Artistic Director of the Compagnia Teatrale Italia , he was also director of acting courses, in addition to having held various positions in various theater companies. He directed some theaters, including the Roman one of Ostia Antica prepared by him, and that of the Castle of Santa Severa, his personal creation. He has acted in around 130 comedies by various authors (in addition to those of which he himself is the author) for about 3,000 shows of all kinds, in Italy and abroad.

Donatone was also a sportsman, having practiced football, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, gun and rifle shooting on an amateur level.

DONATONE, Mario (aka Mario Giacinto Donatone, Dan Doney) (Giacinto Mario Donatone), [6/9/1933, Tripoli, Libya – 4/15/2020, Rome, Lazio, Italy] – director, writer, film, TV actor.

Bad Kids of the West – 1973 (awakened man)