Alberto Sordi, 82; Italian Known for Comic Movie Roles

Alberto Sordi, an actor who depicted Italy’s virtues and vices in more than 160 movies and contributed to making Italian comedy famous worldwide, has died. He was 82.

Known to many Italians simply as “Albertone,” or “Big Alberto,” Sordi died of a heart attack Monday night at his house in Rome, publicist Maria Rhule Committeri said.

Thousands of people, from retirees to couples with young children, stood in long lines to view the body Tuesday at the Capitoline Hill in the ancient heart of Rome. A TV screen played some of Sordi’s films as fans signed a guest book.

Among those paying their respects were Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and his wife, Franca. Hundreds of people also flocked to Sordi’s villa at the beginning of the Appia Antica to pay homage, leaving flowers, notes and even the red-and-yellow scarf of AS Roma, the soccer team that Sordi supported.

Some of the actor’s most successful movies are set in Rome, where he was born, including the 1954 comic turn “An American in Rome,” in which he poked fun at Italy’s growing passion for things American.

His movies include Federico Fellini’s “The White Sheik” in 1952 and, a year later, “I Vitelloni,” in which he played one of the title’s immature loafers, the weak and effeminate Alberto.

“Sordi helped us understand post-World War II Italy while making us smile,” Culture Minister Giuliano Urbani said.

Born to a schoolteacher and a musician, Sordi grew up in a working-class neighborhood in the capital. He went to Milan’s dramatic arts academy but was soon kicked out because of the thick Roman accent that would later become his trademark.

His movie career began in the late 1930s, but not on screen: Sordi’s first break was as Oliver Hardy’s dubbed voice. From there he went on to radio and theater, but it was cinema that shot him to stardom.

Throughout a career that spanned more than 50 years, Sordi worked with some of the finest Italian directors, including Mario Monicelli and Dino Risi, and such stars as Vittorio Gassman, Vittorio de Sica and Monica Vitti.

“He has been, on screen, abusive, cowardly, ferocious, corrupting and corrupted. In other words, the Italian man who emerged from the fearfulness of war ready to grab any opportunity,” Monicelli said.

“Along with being a great actor, Sordi was a great observer,” Risi said.

He starred in the 1957 “Il Conte Max,” (“Count Max”), playing a newspaper vendor who pretends to be a Roman count, and two years later in Monicelli’s “The Great War,” considered to be among the best Italian comedies. In 1965, he had a role in another hugely popular comedy, “I Complessi” (“Complexes”).

In 1961, he starred with David Niven in the World War II comedy “The Best of Enemies.”

Sordi also successfully tried his hand at dramatic roles. In 1977’s “Un Borghese Piccolo Piccolo,” (“An Average Little Man”), he portrayed a middle-aged man who decides to take justice into his hands when his son is killed.

His movies often addressed social problems and personal weaknesses such as corruption, terrorism and drug addiction.

“All my films are based on very serious and dramatic subjects, taken from real-life stories,” he told Milan daily Corriere della Sera in a 1987 interview.

Sordi also directed a few movies. But his greatest accolades came for acting. He received the David di Donatello, Italy’s most important movie award, and a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 1995.

Sordi is survived by his sister Aurelia. A funeral is scheduled for today in Rome, his publicist said.