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1[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/media_2.jpg]]
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3Roberto Remigio Benigni (born October 27, 1952 in Castiglion Fiorentino, near Arezzo, [[UsefulNotes/TheBraveRegionsOfItalia Tuscany]]) is an UsefulNotes/{{Ital|y}}ian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director.
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5Benigni is most famous internationally for directing, writing and starring in the 1997 comedy-drama film ''Film/LifeIsBeautiful''. The film presented a sensitive {{dramedy}} about UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust, an artistic challenge that Creator/CharlieChaplin would not have dared and Creator/JerryLewis chickened out of showing.
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7The film won three MediaNotes/{{Academy Award}}s ([[MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestActorInALeadingRole Best Actor]] for Benigni, [[MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestForeignLanguageFilm Best Foreign Language Film]] and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score) and numerous other awards; to say the wins excited Benigni would be an understatement. In what is now considered one of the most memorable moments in Oscars history, he reacted to the film's second win by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cTR6fk8frs jumping on top of his seat and climbing over those of the people in front of him before bunny-hopping to the stage]]. He also kissed the feet of Creator/MartinScorsese after the film won the Grand Prix at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, of which Scorsese served as jury president.
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9Unfortunately, Benigni would later squander his artistic reputation and AuteurLicense in 2002 with his pet project ''Film/{{Pinocchio|2002}}'', which featured himself in the title role. The film became a critically derided BoxOfficeBomb, and after it being followed by another bomb, ''The Tiger and the Snow'', his directorial career still hasn't recovered since. Ironically, he would appear in a much better received [[Film/Pinocchio2019 2019 production]] of the story as Geppetto -- a role most said he should have played in his own film all along.
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11Benigni has also written and performed the [[RecordedAndStandUpComedy stand-up comedy]] show ''Tutto Dante'', inspired by Creator/DanteAlighieri's ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'' and the Tuscany tradition of {{improv}}isatory poetry, with much success in his native country.
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13!!Partial filmography:
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15* ''Berlinguer, I Love You'' (1977, also wrote) as Mario (debut film as actor and screenwriter)
16* ''Tu mi turbi'' (1983, also wrote and directed) as Benigno (directorial debut)
17* ''Film/NonCiRestaChePiangere'' (1984, also wrote and directed) as Saverio
18* ''Film/DownByLaw'' (1986) as Roberto
19* ''The Little Devil'' (1988, also wrote and directed) as Giuditta, a playful and immature demon who annoys a priest played by Creator/WalterMatthau
20* ''The Voice of the Moon'' (1990) as Ivo Salvini (the last film by Creator/FedericoFellini)
21* ''Night on Earth'' (1991) as Gino the taxi driver
22* ''Film/JohnnyStecchino'' (1991, also wrote and directed) in a dual role as Dante Ceccarini, a school bus driver who falls in love with a gangster's moll, and Johnny Stecchino, the gangster in question, who the Mafia wants dead because he turned informant
23* ''[[Franchise/ThePinkPanther Son of the Pink Panther]]'' (1993) as Jacques Gambrelli (Inspector Clouseau's son)
24* ''The Monster'' (1994, also wrote and directed) as Loris, a innocent man who is mistaken for a serial killer
25* ''Film/LifeIsBeautiful'' (1997, also wrote and directed) as Guido
26* ''Film/AsterixAndObelixTakeOnCaesar'' (1999) as Lucius Detritus
27* ''Film/{{Pinocchio|2002}}'' (2002, also wrote and directed) as Pinocchio
28* ''Film/CoffeeAndCigarettes'' (2003) as Roberto
29* ''The Tiger and the Snow'' (2005, also wrote and directed) as Attilio de Giovanni
30* ''Film/ToRomeWithLove'' (2012) as Leopoldo Pisanello
31* ''Film/{{Pinocchio|2019}}'' (2019) as Geppetto
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33!!Tropes in his works:
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35* CreatorCouple: He has cast his wife Nicoletta Braschi in seven of the eight films he directed (she did not appear in the time-warp comedy ''Nothing Left to Do But Cry'').
36* TheDanza: He has appeared as a character named Roberto in two Creator/JimJarmusch films -- ''Down by Law'' and ''Coffee and Cigarettes''.
37* {{Dramedy}}: Two films that he directed fit in the genre, being comedy-dramas set in really troubled historical settings -- ''Life is Beautiful'' with UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust and ''The Tiger and the Snow'' with the [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror 2000s war in Iraq]].

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