Adolfo Celi
Biography
Adolfo Celi was an Italian actor and director who appeared in nearly 100 films. Born in Messina, Sicily, he began in postwar Italian cinema, then moved to Brazil, where he helped found the Teatro Brasileiro de Comédia in São Paulo and acted on stage in Brazil and Argentina. During the 1950s he made a few features in South America, among them the Brazilian success Tico-Tico no Fubá. His villain phase took off with Philippe de Broca's That Man from Rio (1964), which led to camp commandant Battaglia in Von Ryan's Express (1965) and his best-known international role, Emilio Largo in the James Bond movie Thunderball (1965). He also played Ralph Valmont in Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik (1968) and a mob boss in Fernando Di Leo's La mala ordina (1972). In Italian comedies he was a lead in My Friends (1975) and Brancaleone at the Crusades (1970), and he worked in television on Petrosino and La Baronessa di Carini.
63years old at death
- Born Messina
- Died Siena
- Star sign: LeoThe sign runs July 23 to August 22
Movie Career
- Films
- 27
- Career span
- 21 years1964 to 1985
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A role that slipped away
Celi was among those considered for Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather, a part that in the end went to Marlon Brando.
Behind the camera
In the 1950s Celi directed three films in South America. One of them was the Brazilian hit Tico-Tico no Fubá, released in 1952.
Big break
Celi won the villain role in Philippe de Broca's That Man from Rio after de Broca selected him on location in Rio de Janeiro.
Languages
Celi spoke English well, but because his Sicilian accent was so heavy, English language films usually dubbed him. The 1981 BBC serial The Borgias was an exception, and there he played Rodrigo Borgia.
Adolfo Celi movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Mario Monicelli directed three of these films, Philippe de Broca two and Nanni Loy two. Two actors appear in four of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Ugo Tognazzi's page
Milena Vukotic's page
Paolo Villaggio's page
Gastone Moschin's page
Aristide Caporale's page
Franca Tamantini's page
Box office
What Adolfo Celi's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$185 million
6 of the 27 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 27 films: 6 worldwide figure; 2 us gross only; 19 figure not found.
- 6Worldwide figure
- 2US gross only
- 19Figure not found
Top grosser
Highest grossing
The six biggest films earned 100% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$141M76.2% of the total
- 2$21M11.2% of the total
- 3$17M9.2% of the total
- 4$4.0M2.2% of the total
- 5$2.2M1.2% of the total
- 6$7K0.0% of the total
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.