{{Short description|Italian actor (1886–1957)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Memo Benassi | image = Memo Benassi 3.jpg | image_size = | caption = Memo Benassi on stage (1942) | birth_name = Domenico Benassi | birth_date = {{Birth date |df=yes|1886|06|21}} | birth_place = Sorbolo, Emilia-Romagna <br> Italy | death_date = {{death date and age |df=yes|1957|02|24|1886|06|21}} | death_place = Bologna, Emilia-Romagna <br> Italy | other_names = | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1916–1955 (film) }} '''Domenico "Memo" Benassi''' (21 June 1886 – 24 February 1957) was an Italian stage and film actor who appeared in more than forty films in a mixture of leading and supporting roles.
== Life and career == Born in Sorbolo, Benassi initially formed as a musician, studying cello at the Parma Conservatory.<ref name="bio">{{cite book |last1=Lancia |first1=Enrico |title=Dizionario del cinema italiano. Gli artisti : Vol. 3, Gli attori dal 1930 ai giorni nostri : T. 1. A - L |date=2003 |publisher=Gremese Editore |isbn=978-88-8440-213-4 |chapter=Benassi, Memo}}</ref> His professional acting career was launched in the late 1910s by Gualtiero Tumiati, who offered him a role in his stage company after noting him during an amateur theatrical performance.<ref name="bio" /> He was later enrolled in several major theater companies of the time, notably working with Eleonora Duse and Emma and Irma Gramatica.<ref name="bio" /> In 1925, he formed his own stage company.<ref name="bio" /> He made his film debut in 1932, and had main roles in films by Alessandro Blasetti and Max Ophüls, among others.<ref name="bio" /> He played the composer Beethoven in the 1942 film ''Rossini''.<ref>Mathew, Nicholas & Walton, Benjamin (2013). ''The Invention of Beethoven and Rossini: Historiography, Analysis, Criticism''. Cambridge University Press. p.337.</ref> After the war, he mostly focused on his theatrical career, working with Giorgio Strehler and Luchino Visconti.<ref name="bio" />
==Selected filmography== {{Div col}} * ''Notte di tempesta'' (1916) * ''Mimì e gli straccioni'' (1916) * ''Il gioiello sinistro'' (1917) * ''La nemica'' (1917) * ''Margheritella'' (1918) * ''La scala di seta'' (1920) * ''The Love Letters of Baroness S'' (1924) - Straßenmusikant Giovanni * ''The Adventures of Sybil Brent'' (1925) - Theo Hartwig, Schriftsteller * ''The Old Lady'' (1932) - Joe * ''The Lucky Diamond'' (1933) - Il maggiordomo * ''The Missing Treaty'' (1933) - John Brown - detective * ''The Haller Case'' (1933) - Judge Haller * ''L'impiegata di papà'' (1934) - Banchiere Monti * ''Everybody's Woman'' (1934) - Leonardo Nanni * ''Conquest of the Air'' (1936) - Francesco Lama di Brescia (uncredited) * ''Lady of Paradise'' (1937) - Matteo Iran * ''Scipione l'africano'' (1937) - Cato * ''Tonight at Eleven'' (1938) - L'ambasciatore Leopoldo Norton * ''Princess Tarakanova'' (1938) - L'ambasciatore russo * ''La conquista dell'aria'' (1939) - Il Gesuita Franceesco Lama * ''Orizzonte dipinto'' (1941) - Il burattinaio * ''Il vagabondo'' (1941) - Fanfulla * ''The Jester's Supper'' (1942) - Il Tornaquinci * ''The Two Orphans'' (1942) - Il conte di Linières * ''Fedora'' (1942) - Il principe Yariskine * ''Rossini'' (1942) - Beethoven * ''I due Foscari'' (1942) - Donato Almorò * ''Fourth Page'' (1942) - Il pazzo * ''The Son of the Red Corsair'' (1943) - Il marchese di Montelimar * ''Measure for Measure'' (1943) - Lucio * ''Peccatori'' (1945) * ''Paese senza pace'' (1946) - Padron Toni * ''L'ultimo sogno'' (1946) * ''The Tyrant of Padua'' (1946) - Cesare, il pittore * ''La taverna della libertà'' (1950) * ''The Affairs of Messalina'' (1951) - Claudio / Claude * ''Red Shirts'' (1952) - (uncredited) * ''Too Bad She's Bad'' (1954) - (uncredited) * ''Adriana Lecouvreur'' (1955) - Michonnet {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0070221}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benassi, Memo}} Category:1886 births Category:1957 deaths Category:Actors from the Province of Parma Category:Male actors from Emilia-Romagna Category:Italian male film actors Category:Italian male silent film actors Category:Italian male stage actors Category:20th-century Italian male actors Category:Parma Conservatory alumni