Gabriele Tinti (born Gastone Tinti; 22 August 1932 – 12 November 1991) was an Italian actor, whose film career spanned over 100 roles between 1951 and 1991.
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Early life
Born Gastone Tinti in Molinella, he was the child of working-class parents Luigi and Altimora (nee Bassi) Tinti, and his family frequently struggled with poverty throughout his childhood. He moved to Rome in pursuit of work in his teens, which led him to be discovered by a casting director, and he made his debut in the 1948 film Difficult Years.
Career
Tinti eventually got his first major starring role in the 1954 movie Chronicle of Poor Lovers. The role brought him the reputation of a matinee idol and romantic lead, often playing the role of a friendly and vigorous young man. The contemporaneous French press would refer to him as the "Italian Alain Delon".
Tinti alternated between leading and supporting roles in various films throughout the 1960's and '70s, in a variety of genres. In 1964, he played in the French movie The Troops of St. Tropez. In 1968, he made an appearance in "Mayberry R.F.D." the last episode of The Andy Griffith Show. The episode served as the transition episode for the then-new TV series of the same name. He appeared in three films by American director Robert Aldrich (Sodom and Gomorrah, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Legend of Lylah Clare). In 1971, he played the seducing Don César in the French filmDelusions of Grandeur.
By the end of the 1960s, he used his playboy looks to shift his acting career towards exploitation and B movies, including several directed by Joe D'Amato and featuring his wife Laura Gemser. He starred in many films of the Black Emanuelle series, starring Gemser.
His last acting role was in Christian de Chalonge's The Children Thief (1991).
Personal life
Tinti was married to the Brazilian actress Norma Bengell from 1963 to 1969. He later re-married to Laura Gemser in 1976.
Death
Tinti died suddenly of cardiac arrest in Rome on 12 November 1991, at the age of 59.
Legacy
Tinti was the subject of the 2016 documentary Come in un film: La vera storia di Gabriele (Gastone) Tinti.