Alvaro Vitali (Italian: [alˈvaːro viˈtaːli]; 3 February 1950 – 24 June 2025) was an Italian actor and comedian.
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Life and career
Born in Rome, Vitali was the son of a small construction company owner and a Titanus studio worker. He left high school to work as an electrician. Spotted by Federico Fellini during an audition, he made his film debut with a small part in Satyricon (1969), before taking on increasingly more prominent roles in subsequent Fellini films such as The Clowns, Roma, and Amarcord.
In the 1970s, Vitali became one of the major stars in the commedia sexy all'italiana genre. In the early 1980s, starting from Pierino contro tutti, he had a personal success in a series of films featuring Pierino, a Little John variation. During the same decade, his success began to decline, and opportunities to work became increasingly scarce. In the 2000s his career was briefly relaunched by the Canale 5 satirical show Striscia la notizia, where he portrayed a comic version of Jean Todt and other humorous characters. In 2006, he took part in the reality show La fattoria, the Italian version of The Farm, retiring soon after because of his asthma.
Vitali's style was characterized by "exaggerated facial expressions, strong physicality, and slapstick-style comic timing". He has been described as "probably one of the most underrated [Italian] film actors, deserving renewed recognition".
