Roberto Benigni

Roberto Benigni, born on 27 October 1952 in Castiglion Fiorentino in Tuscany, is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and film director. He gained international recognition for writing, directing and starring in the Holocaust comedy drama Life Is Beautiful (1997), for which he received the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best International Feature Film; he is the first, and so far the only, recipient of the Best Actor award for a non-English language performance. Benigni made his acting debut in Berlinguer, I Love You (1977), which he also wrote and which Giuseppe Bertolucci directed. His directorial debut was the 1983 anthology film Tu mi turbi, which was also the acting debut of his wife, Nicoletta Braschi. He went on to direct and star in comedies including Nothing Left to Do But Cry, The Little Devil, Johnny Stecchino, The Monster, Pinocchio (2002, in the title role) and The Tiger and the Snow. As an actor he also worked for Jim Jarmusch, Federico Fellini, Blake Edwards, Woody Allen and Matteo Garrone.