Totò

The delightful Italian stage and screen comedian Toto was born to a prominent but penniless Neapolitan family at the turn of the century. Following World War I service, Toto first took to the stage as music-hall revue comic. Firmly established in the legitimate Italian theater by 1936, he made his first film appearance in Fermo con le Mani. So popular was he by the late 1940s that his movie vehicles often incorporated his name in the titles: some of these, notably Toto e Cleopatra, Toto d'Arabia and Toto Sexy, were parodies of established "serious" film genres. Toto has often been described as "The Italian Fernandel," even though the only common denominater between the two comedians was the unbridled adulation of the public. In 1958, European audiences were treated to the long-awaited teaming of Toto and Fernandel in the satirical comedy The Law is the Law. Toto died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 69, shortly after completing his final feature, Capriccio all'Italiana (1968) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide