Biography for
Luchino Visconti More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

2 November 1906, Milan, Lombardy, Italy

Date of Death

17 March 1976, Rome, Italy (stroke)

Birth Name

Luchino Visconti di Modrone

Height

6' 1" (1.85 m)

Trivia

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 1142-1148. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.

President of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1969

Born into one of Northern Italy's richest families as one of the Duke of Modrone's seven children.

From 1946 to 1960, he directed many plays of the Rina Morelli-Paolo Stoppa Company and became also a respected theater director.

Developed the movement of "Italian neo-realism" together with other directors such as Vittorio De Sica or Roberto Rossellini in the 1940s and 1950s.

A museum on the island of Ischia is dedicated to him.

Longtime companion of actor Helmut Berger from 1964 until his death.

Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1956

Suffered a stroke during the filming of Ludwig (1972).

Supporter of the Italian Communist Party.

Personal Quotes

[1976 comment on Luis Bunuel] I think today there are too many directors taking themselves seriously; the only one capable of saying anything really new and interesting is Luis Bunuel. He's a very great director.

[on Marcello Mastroianni] He's very human and easily identifies with the man in the street. He's never a hero. Rather, he's an anti-hero, and that's why in turn the public adores him. That's his great merit and his appeal.

[on Burt Lancaster] The Prince in "The Leopard" was a very complex character -- at times autocratic, rude, strong -- at times romantic, good, understanding -- and sometimes even stupid, and above all, mysterious. Burt is all these things too. Sometimes I think Burt is the most perfectly mysterious man I have ever met in my life.

[on Giancarlo Giannini] An extraordinary actor.

[on Vittorio Gassmann] He's a monster. Nature has made him prodigiously gifted and that's not always a blessing. His monstrous technical ability make him neglect to go deeper into the roles he plays. All the same, what an actor!

[on Federico Fellini] He's gifted like others are gifted today. In truth, he suffers from being a little provincial boy. His films are like the dreams of a country boy imagining what it's like to be in the big city. His greatest danger: to be a very great director with precious little to say.

[on Ingmar Bergman] I don't begin to share his way of seeing things any more than his obsessions. All the same I find him interesting. And his universe is much stranger yet than any Japanese filmmaker.

[on Laura Antonelli] Don't underestimate Laura Antonelli. She's burning to do well. And then she has an extraordinary face, even without make-up. It's not with her that I'd discuss literature. I speak only of the film "L'Innocente," and what she does she does well.

[on Michelangelo Antonioni] It seems that boredom is one of the great discoveries of our time. If so, there's no question but that he must be considered a pioneer.

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