Raf Vallone

Raf Vallone

1916-02-17 – 2002-10-31 (age 86) Tropea, Calabria, Italy
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Biography

Raffaele "Raf" Vallone (17 February 1916 – 31 October 2002) was an Italian actor and an international film star.

Born in Tropea, Calabria, the son of a lawyer, Vallone attended Liceo classico Cavour in Turin, and studied Law and Philosophy at the University of Turin and entered his father's law firm. He played professional Football at a young age, playing in Serie A for Torino. He won an Italian Cup with his team in season 1935-1936. Subsequently, he became the editorial head of the culture section of L'Unità, then the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party, and also a film and drama critic for the Turin newspaper La Stampa. During World War II, Vallone served with the Communist resistance.

His first film appearance was as a sailor in We the Living (1942), but Vallone was not interested in an acting career. Nevertheless, he was cast as a soldier competing with Vittorio Gassman for the love of Silvana Mangano in Riso amaro (Bitter Rice) (1949). The film became a neo-realist classic and Vallone was launched on an international career. In 2001 he published his autobiography, L'alfabeto della memoria, with Gremese (Rome).

Vallone was married to the actress Elena Varzi from 1952 until his death. They had three children, two of whom are actors, Eleonora Vallone and Saverio Vallone.

He died in Rome on 31 October 2002.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Raf Vallone, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Known For

The Godfather Part III
The Godfather Part III

1990

as Cardinal Lamberto

The Italian Job
The Italian Job

1969

as Altabani

The Cardinal
The Cardinal

1963

as Cardinal

Lion of the Desert
Lion of the Desert

1981

as Colonel Diodiece

Nevada Smith
Nevada Smith

1966

as Father Zaccardi

Two Women
Two Women

1960

as Giovanni

El Cid
El Cid

1961

as Count Ordóñez

The Scarlet and the Black
The Scarlet and the Black

1983

as Father Vittorio

Cannon for Cordoba
Cannon for Cordoba

1970

as Córdoba

Bitter Rice
Bitter Rice

1949

as Marco

The Secret Invasion
The Secret Invasion

1964

as Roberto Rocca

The Other Side of Midnight
The Other Side of Midnight

1977

as Constantin Demeris

Guendalina
Guendalina

1957

as Guido Redaelli, padre di Guendalina

Summertime Killer
Summertime Killer

1972

as Lazaro Alfredi

Harlow
Harlow

1965

as Marino Bello

The Sign of Venus
The Sign of Venus

1955

as Ignazio Bolognini

The Greek Tycoon
The Greek Tycoon

1978

as Spyros Tomasis

That Lucky Touch
That Lucky Touch

1975

as General Peruzzi

An Almost Perfect Affair
The Kremlin Letter
The Kremlin Letter

1970

as Puppet Maker