Italian screenwriter Scarpelli, father of Italian-style comedies, is dead at 90
By APWednesday, April 28, 2010
Screenwriter of classic Italian comedies dies
ROME — The Oscar-nominated screenwriter Furio Scarpelli, who co-wrote some of the best Italian comedies of the post-war period and who ventured into the spaghetti-western genre with the “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” died Wednesday, his family said. He was 90.
Scarpelli died in his house in Rome shortly after midnight, his son, Matteo Scarpelli, told The Associated Press. He had long suffered heart problems.
During a decades-long, prolific partnership with Age, Scarpelli co-wrote some of Italy’s finest postwar movies, including the iconic comedy “Big Deal on Madonna Street.”
The pair also wrote “Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo” (”The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”), the spaghetti-western classic directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood.
But it was the comedies that mostly made their name. Their sense of humor and an unforgiving display of the vices of Italian people became the pair’s trademark, and made for memorable roles and lines for actors such as Marcello Mastroianni and Vittorio Gassman.
Scarpelli was hailed Wednesday as one of the fathers of Italian cinema. Paolo Virzi, a director who worked with him in recent years, said Scarpelli had the ability to see through people and praised his talent for vivid dialogue.
Age, whose real name was Agenore Incrocci, died in 2005.
Age and Scarpelli received two Oscar nominations for best screenwriting in the 1960s. Scarpelli also received another nomination for “Il Postino” (”The Postman”) in 1996.
Scarpelli is survived by his wife and two sons. A funeral will be held Friday in Rome, his son said.
Tags: Arts And Entertainment, Europe, Italy, Madonna, Movies, Obituaries, Rome, Western Europe
