{{Short description|Italian actor}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Erminio Macario | image = Erminio macario chiromante.jpg | caption = Macario in the movie ''Il chiromante'' | birth_date = {{Birth date|1902|5|27|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Turin]], Kingdom of Italy | death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|3|25|1902|5|27|df=y}} | death_place = Turin, Italy | spouse = {{plainlist| * Maria Giuliano * {{marriage|Giulia Dardanelli|1938|1980|reason=died}} }} | children = Alberto (1943) <br/>[[Mauro Macario|Mauro]] (1947) | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1933–1975 }}

'''Erminio Macario''' (27 May 1902 &ndash; 25 March 1980), best known as '''Macario''', was an Italian film actor and comedian. He appeared in 42 films between 1933 and 1975.

==Life and career== Born in [[Turin]], Macario made his debut at a young age in the amateur dramatics company Don Bosco Oratory in Valdocco,<ref>{{cite book|last=Domenico Seren Gay|title=Teatro popolare dialettale: indagine-enciclopedia sul teatro piemontese|publisher=Priuli & Verlucca, 1977}}</ref> then he was part of some small amateur companies in his hometown until 1924. At this time, he was cast in the company of dancing and pantomime of Giovanni Molasso.<ref name=Enciclop>{{cite book|last=[[Gianni Canova]]|title=Enciclopedia del cinema|year=2005|publisher=Garzanti, 2009|isbn=881150516-X}}</ref> Soon after, he entered the company of [[Wanda Osiris]], the undisputed queen of the revue of that time in Italy.<ref name=Enciclop/> Between the two wars he became, in a short time, one of the most popular comedians of the [[Revue|revue theatre]].<ref name=Manuale>{{cite book|last=Ennio Fulgheri|title=Manuale del cinema italiano|year=1998|publisher=Swan, 1998|isbn=8886464150}}</ref>

Macario made his film debut in 1933 with ''[[Country Air (film)|Aria di paese]]'', but the success came just six years later with two comedy films directed by [[Mario Mattoli]] and co-written by a young [[Federico Fellini]], ''[[Defendant, Stand Up!|Imputato alzatevi!]]'' and ''[[Lo vedi come sei... lo vedi come sei?]]''.<ref name=Enciclop/> After a series of successful comedies directed by [[Carlo Borghesio]] since the early fifties, Macario appeared in short characterizations in [[anthology film]]s and was [[sidekick]] of [[Totò]] in a number of films.<ref name=Enciclop/> Starting from the mid-sixties he finally dedicated himself to television and theatre.<ref name=Enciclop/>

[[File:Imputato alzatevi - Macario.jpg|220px|thumbnail|Macario in ''[[Defendant, Stand Up!]]'' (1939)]] His comical style was referred to as a mixture between [[Charlie Chaplin|Chaplin]]'s [[The Tramp|Charlot]] and [[Marx Brothers]].<ref name=enturi>{{cite book|last=Valerio Venturi|title=Cesare Andrea Bixio. L'attività musicale di Bixio per l'industria cinematografica (1920-1945)|year=2010|publisher=Libreria Universitaria, 2010|isbn=978-8862920223}}</ref>

==Partial filmography== {{Div col|colwidth=25em}} * ''[[Country Air (film)|Country Air]]'' (1933) - Mac * ''[[Defendant, Stand Up!]]'' (1939) - Cipriano Duval * ''[[Lo vedi come sei... lo vedi come sei?]]'' (1939) - Michele Bernisconi * ''[[The Pirate's Dream]]'' (1940) - José * ''[[Non me lo dire!]]'' (1940) - Michele Colombelli, marchese di Castel Perrone * ''Il chiromante'' (1941) - Candido * ''Il vagabondo'' (1941) - Pippo, il vagabondo * ''[[Il fanciullo del West]]'' (1943) - Mac Carey * ''[[Charley's Aunt (1943 film)|Charley's Aunt]]'' (1943) - Terenzio * ''Arcobaleno'' (1943) * ''[[Macario Against Zagomar]]'' (1944) - Macario Duplessis * ''[[The Innocent Casimiro]]'' (1945) - Casimiro Pelagatti * ''[[L'eroe della strada]]'' (1948) - Felice Manetti * ''[[How I Lost the War]]'' (1948) - Leo Bianchetti * ''[[Adam and Eve (1949 film)|Adam and Eve]]'' (1949) - Adamo Rossi * ''[[How I Discovered America]]'' (1949) - Cristoforo Colombo * ''[[Il monello della strada]]'' (1950) - Carletto Po * ''[[The Passaguai Family Gets Rich]]'' (1952) - Giocondo Diotallevi * ''[[My Wife, My Cow and Me]]'' (1952) - Mario * ''[[I, Hamlet]]'' (1952) - Amleto * ''[[Matrimonial Agency (1953 film)|Matrimonial Agency]]'' (1953) - Peppino * ''Carosello del varietà'' (1955) * ''Italia piccola'' (1957) - Sandrin * ''[[La cambiale]]'' (1959) - Tommaso * ''[[Lo smemorato di Collegno]]'' (1962) - Nicola Politi * ''[[Toto's First Night]]'' (1962) - Mimi Makò * ''[[I 4 monaci]]'' (1962) - Fra' Martino * ''[[Sexy Toto]]'' (1963) - Mimi Cocco * ''Avventura al motel'' (1963) - Erminio * ''Uno strano tipo'' (1963) - Giovanni * ''[[Totò contro i quattro]]'' (1963) - La Matta * ''[[The Monk of Monza]]'' (1963) - Fra' Mamozio * ''[[I 4 tassisti]]'' (1963) - Pomilio Barone (segment "Caccia al tesoro") * ''[[The Four Musketeers (1963 film)|The Four Musketeers]]'' (1963) * ''Lisa dagli occhi blu'' (1970) - Tramp with the cats * ''Nel giorno del signore'' (1970) - Don Giacinto * ''[[The Mighty Anselmo and His Squire]]'' (1972) - Frà Prosdocimo Zatterin da' San Donà di Piave * ''[[Ante Up (film)|Ante Up]]'' (1974) * ''[[Due sul pianerottolo]]'' (1976) - Prof. Luigi Savoia {{Div col end}}

==References== {{reflist}}

== Further reading == * Maurizio Ternavasio, ''Macario: vita di un comico'', Lindau, 1998, {{ISBN|8871802411}}.

==External links== {{commons category}} *{{IMDb name|0531257|Erminio Macario}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Macario, Erminio}} [[Category:1902 births]] [[Category:1980 deaths]] [[Category:Italian male film actors]] [[Category:20th-century Italian male actors]] [[Category:Male actors from Turin]] [[Category:Italian male comedians]] [[Category:20th-century Italian comedians]] [[Category:Italian male stage actors]] [[Category:Italian male television actors]] [[Category:Comedians from Turin]]