Bombolo

{{Short description|Italian character actor and comedian}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Bombolo | image = Bombolo 1983 (cropped).jpg | birth_name = Franco Lechner | birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|05|22|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Rome]], Italy | death_date = {{Death date and age|1987|08|21|1931|05|22|df=yes}} | death_place = Rome, Italy | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1966–1987 | nationality = | height = {{convert|1.68|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | notable_works = }} [[File:G Bracardi Bombolo Nicolini ANTIFUD17.jpg|thumb|[[Giorgio Bracardi]], {{ill|Renato Nicolini|it}}, and Bombolo, at an anti-fast food demonstration in [[Piazza di Spagna]], 20 April 1986]] [[File:Bombolo 1983.jpg|thumb|Bombolo, 1983]]

'''Franco Lechner''', best known as '''Bombolo'''{{efn|colloquially meaning [https://en.pons.com/translate/italian-english/bombolo tubby person].}} (22 May 1931 – 21 August 1987), was an Italian character actor and comedian.

== Life and career == Born in [[Rome]] into a poor family, a former peddler of dishes, Lechner was discovered in a tavern by Franco Castellacci and [[Pierfrancesco Pingitore]], who entered him in their cabaret company "Il Bagaglino".<ref name=jsdh>{{cite news|last=Michele Anselmi|title=Muore Bombolo, fu comico "pe caso"|newspaper=[[L'Unità]]|date=24 August 1987}}</ref> He got a large popularity in cinema as the [[sidekick]] of [[Tomas Milian]] in a successful series of [[poliziotteschi|poliziottesco]] films directed by [[Bruno Corbucci]].<ref name=jsdh/> He was also partner of [[Enzo Cannavale]] in a number of comedy films.<ref name=fc>{{cite book|author1=Massimo Giraldi |author2=Enrico Lancia |author3=Fabio Melelli |title=Cento caratteristi del cinema italiano|year=2006 |publisher=Gremese Editore, 2006|isbn=8884403839|pages=37–38}}</ref> He died at age 56 as a result of complications following a major surgical operation.<ref name=jsdh/> Even after several decades, younger generations continue to embrace his characteristic slang, particularly his distinctive and iconic "tze tze".<ref name=fc/>

== Partial filmography == {{Div col}} * ''Remo e Romolo (Storia di due figli di una lupa)'' (1976) – Pappo * ''La prima notte di nozze'' (1976) * ''[[Hit Squad (film)|Hit Squad]]'' (1976) – Er Trippa * ''[[Nerone (1977 film)|Nerone]]'' (1977) – Roscio * ''[[Il marito in collegio]]'' (1977) – Killer * ''[[Messalina, Messalina]]'' (1977) – Zenturio Bisone * ''[[Swindle (1977 film)|Swindle]]'' (1977) – Franco 'Venticello' Bertarelli * ''[[Little Italy (1978 film)|Little Italy]]'' (1978) – Venticello * ''Scherzi da prete'' (1978) – Bombolo * ''[[Assassinio sul Tevere]]'' (1979) – Franco 'Venticello' Bertarelli * ''Tutti a squola'' (1979) – Bombolo il bidello * ''[[L'imbranato]]'' (1979) – Bombolo, il genero * ''[[Ciao marziano]]'' (1980) – Pietro * ''[[Girls Will Be Girls (1980 film)|Girls Will Be Girls]]'' (1980) – Giulio Cesare * ''[[Delitto a Porta Romana]]'' (1980) – Franco 'Venticello' Bertarelli * ''[[Il casinista]]'' (1980) – Poldo * ''L'amante tutta da scoprire'' (1981) – Bombolo * ''[[The Week at the Beach]]'' (1981) – Orazio Canestrari * ''[[Uno contro l'altro, praticamente amici]]'' (1981) – Capoccione * ''I carabbinieri'' (1981) – Mozzarella * ''[[Una vacanza del cactus]]'' (1981) – Augusto Squarciarelli * ''[[Crime at the Chinese Restaurant]]'' (1981) – Bombolo * ''Miracoloni'' (1981) – Taxista * ''Il marito in vacanza'' (1981) – Agenore * ''[[W la foca]]'' (1982) – Doctor Filippo Patacchiola * ''Attenti a quei P2'' (1982) – Bombolo il portiere * ''Il sommergibile più pazzo del mondo'' (1982) – Il Postino * ''[[Delitto sull'autostrada]]'' (1982) – Venticello * ''Sturmtruppen 2 (tutti al fronte)'' (1982) * ''La sai l'ultima sui matti?'' (1982) – Caciotta * ''È forte un casino!'' (1982) – Cicciobello * ''Un jeans e una maglietta'' (1983) * ''Sfrattato cerca casa equo canone'' (1983) – Maciste * ''La discoteca'' (1983) – Bombolo * ''[[Crime in Formula One]]'' (1984) – Venticello * ''[[Cop in Drag]]'' (1984) – Franco 'Venticello' Bertarelli * ''Vacanze d'estate'' (1985) – Cardinale * ''Giuro che ti amo'' (1986) – (final film role) {{div col end}}

==Notes and references== ;Notes {{notelist}}

;References {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{IMDb name|0093585}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bombolo}} [[Category:1931 births]] [[Category:1987 deaths]] [[Category:Male actors from Rome]] [[Category:Comedians from Rome]] [[Category:Italian male film actors]] [[Category:Italian male stage actors]] [[Category:Italian male comedians]] [[Category:Deaths from surgical complications]] [[Category:Burials at the Cimitero Flaminio]] [[Category:20th-century Italian male actors]] [[Category:20th-century Italian comedians]]