Gigi Ballista

Biography

Gigi Ballista (1 December 1918 – 2 August 1980) was an Italian film and television actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1961 and 1980. Born in Florence, Ballista graduated in Law, then he started working as a PR consultant in the field of advertising and industrial documentaries. He debuted as an actor at a mature age in the early 1960s with some minor roles, but his breakout came in 1966 with a role of weight in Pietro Germi's The Birds, the Bees and the Italians. Following the critical and commercial success of the film, Ballista decided to pursue a professional career as an actor, and he became, mainly thanks to his characteristic hoarse and dysphonic voice, one of the most recognizable character actors in Italian cinema and television. Description above from the Wikipedia article Gigi Ballista, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Midnight Express

as Chief Judge

Horse Fever

as Count Dallara

Salon Kitty

as Nazi General

Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia

as Dottore

Stavisky...

as Gaston Henriet

The Sunday Woman

as Vollero

The Birds, the Bees and the Italians

as Giacinto Castellan

Torture Me But Kill Me with Kisses

as Engineer

The Secret of Santa Vittoria

as Padre Polenta

Giovannona Long-Thigh

as Commendatore La Noce