Arturo Dominici (2 January 1916 – 7 September 1992) was an Italian actor and voice actor.
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Early life and education
Dominici was born in Palermo, Sicily in 1916. He originally studied linguistics at the University of Palermo, before embarking on an acting career. During the Second World War, he was conscripted into the Italian Army and served on the Yugoslavian front.
Career
In 1947, Dominici was cast in a small role in the Sicily-shot film Il principe ribelle. The positive experience led him to move to Rome to seek more film roles. With his elegant bearing and an expressive face, he became best known for his many villainous roles in horror and fantasy films.
He is best remembered for his performance as the monstrous Igor Javutich in Mario Bava's Black Sunday (1960), the evil Eurysteus in the 1958 Steve Reeves epic Hercules, and Mangani in Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion. His filmography includes more than 80 titles, including Antonio Margheriti's Castle of Blood (1964), in which he appeared with his Black Sunday co-star Barbara Steele. On television, he starred in the 1971 Italian version of the science-fiction serial A for Andromeda.
Dubbing
Dominci's was a prolific Italian-language dubber. Among others, he dubbed Martin Balsam, James Doohan (in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock), Bernard Lee (Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun), Peter Cushing, José Ferrer, George Kennedy and Robert Duvall. He dubbed the voice of Salvatore Corsitto as Amerigo Buonasera in the Italian version of The Godfather (1972), Walter Ladengast in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), and the animated character Papa Smurf in the 1981 cartoon The Smurfs.
He did the Italian dubs of the Japanese anime Hurricane Polymar, Great Mazinger, and Heidi, Girl of the Alps.
Personal life
Dominici was married twice, first to Irene Quattrini and later to Yugoslavian painter Liana Dodoja. He had three children. His daughter, Germana (1946–2024), was an actress and dubber; at the age of 14 she had the role of the farm girl alongside her father in Black Sunday. He was also the maternal grandfather of the voice actress Lilli Manzini and media personality Francesca Manzini.
Death
Dominici died of cancer on 7 September 1992, aged 76, and is buried at Cimitero Flaminio in Rome.
