Franco Latini

Franco Latini
Latini in The Black Maid (1976)
Born(1927-09-12)12 September 1927
Pomezia, Kingdom of Italy
Died2 February 1991(1991-02-02) (aged 63)
Rome, Italy
Occupations
  • Actor
  • voice actor
  • dubbing director
Years active1953–1991
Children

Franco Latini (12 September 1927 – 2 February 1991) was an Italian actor and voice actor.[1] He was considered one of the top voice dubbers for animated films and cartoons in Italy.[2]

Biography

Born in Pomezia, which is in Rome, Latini started out working as a singer in nightclubs in the early 1950s, then he went on to act in radio comedies and theatre plays. In 1953 he starred in the film The World Condemns Them. Latini's filmography includes comedies such as the 1966 musical film Mondo pazzo... gente matta! starring Silvana Pampanini, the 1976 film The Black Maid starring Carla Brait and spaghetti westerns such as Blue Summer and Johnny Hamlet.

Latini was heavily active as a voice actor.[3] He dubbed Stan Laurel in several redubs of Laurel and Hardy shorts and films in which he was paired up with Carlo Croccolo.[4] He also dubbed characters in many animated productions: he was the Italian voice of Skeletor and other characters in the first season of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and from 1983 until 1988 he was the primary Italian voice of Donald Duck.[5] Latini voiced most of the characters in the Italian editions of the Looney Tunes, various Muppets in The Muppet Show and Tom from Tom & Jerry.

Latini founded his own dubbing company in the late 1970s, which was active until the end of the '80s. In 1981 he lost one of his legs in an accident, which rendered him unable to perform on screen. After that, he devoted himself exclusively to dubbing.[5][6]

Personal life

Latini had three children, daughters Laura and Ilaria from his marriage with dialogue writer Maria Pinto and son Fabrizio from his relationship with actress Piera Vidale. All three followed in Latini's footsteps.

Death

Latini died of a stroke at the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic in Rome around the evening of 2 February 1991, at the age of 63, it was also the 21st birthday of his son Fabrizio Vidale.[5] He was later interred at Campo Verano.

Filmography

Cinema

Year Title Role Notes
1953 The World Condemns Them Double Bass Player Uncredited
1958 Serenatella sciuè sciuè [it] Barone Paolino
1963 The Motorized Women Plump Man with a Hat Uncredited
1964 Bullet in the Flesh Bob Rusky
1965 Blue Summer Oliveras
1966 Mondo pazzo... gente matta! [it] Paolo Pizziconi
1967 For Love... for Magic...
1968 Johnny Hamlet Gravedigger
May God Forgive You... But I Won't Undertaker
1972 Jus primae noctis
1976 La cameriera nera [it] Placido

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1969 Stasera Fernandel [it] Il capostazione TV miniseries, 6th episode (1969)[7]
1973 Qui squadra mobile Padrone
1974 L'avventura di un povero cristiano Cerbicca TV play[8]

Voice work

Miscellaneous

Dubbing

Animation

Live action

References

  1. ^ "Franco Latini's voice acting and dubbing contributions". Il mondo dei doppiatori, antoniogenna.net (in Italian). Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Franco Latini". MYmovies. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  3. ^ Cronologia fondamentale dell'epoca d'oro del doppiaggio italiano Dagli albori agli anni 1970 (in Italian)
  4. ^ "STORIA DEL DOPPIAGGIO IN ITALIA (DI LORENZO BASSI)" (in Italian). laurel-e-hardy.it. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d "Morto Latini, voce di Paperino". Stampa Sera. 4 February 1991. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  6. ^ "Franco Latini – Mille voci nell'ombra". looneyverse.altervisita.org. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Radiocorriere 1968 53". 28 December 1968.
  8. ^ "Teatro 1974-1975". teche.rai.it.
  9. ^ "SuperGulp". Il mondo dei doppiatori, antoniogenna.net.
  10. ^ "Lobster for Breakfast". allmovie.com.
  11. ^ "La liceale, il diavolo e l'acquasanta (1979) - Overview". allmovie.com.
  12. ^ a b c "Bugs Bunny e la festa di Halloween". Il mondo dei doppiatori, antoniogenna.net (in Italian).
  13. ^ a b "Carote, amore e fantasia". Il mondo dei doppiatori, antoniogenna.net.
  14. ^ a b "Cercasi il coniglio pasquale". Il mondo dei doppiatori, antoniogenna.net.

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