View source for Lino Ventura

{{short description|Italian-born actor (1919–1987)}}
{{More footnotes|date=January 2010}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Lino Ventura
| image              = Lino Ventura — Il Re di Poggioreale.jpg
| image_size         = 
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = Angiolino Giuseppe Pasquale Ventura
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1919|07|14|df=yes}}
| birth_place        = [[Parma]], Italy
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1987|10|22|1919|07|14|df=yes}}
| death_place        = [[Saint-Cloud]], France
| other_names        = Lino Borrini
| citizenship        = Italy
| occupation         = Actor
| years_active       = 1953–1987
| spouse             = {{marriage|Odette Lecomte|1942}}
| children           = 4
}}

'''Angiolino Giuseppe Pasquale Ventura''' (14 July 1919 – 22 October 1987), known as '''Lino Ventura''', was an Italian-born actor and philanthropist, who lived and worked for most of his life in [[France]]. He was considered one of the greatest [[Leading actor|leading men]] of French cinema during the 1960s and 1970s, known for his portrayal of tough characters on both sides of the law in [[crime drama]]s.

Born in [[Parma]] and raised in [[Paris]], Ventura worked as a [[professional wrestler]] before an injury ended his career. He made his film debut as a gangster in the 1954 [[Jacques Becker]] film ''[[Touchez pas au grisbi]]'' and rapidly became one of France's favourite film actors, playing opposite many other great stars and working with such leading directors as [[Louis Malle]], [[Claude Sautet]], and [[Claude Miller]]. Usually portraying a tough man, either a criminal or a cop, he also featured as a leader of the [[French Resistance|Resistance]] in the [[Jean-Pierre Melville]]-directed ''[[Army of Shadows]]'' (1969). He was nominated for a [[Cesar Award for Best Actor|Cesar Award]] for his portrayal of [[Jean Valjean]] in the [[Les Misérables (1982 film)|1982 film adaptation]] of ''[[Les Misérables]]''.

After one of his four children, a daughter, was born handicapped, he and his wife founded a charity [[:fr:Fondation_Perce-Neige |Perce-Neige]] (Snowdrop) which aids disabled children and their parents. Though a lifelong resident and [[Pop icon|pop cultural icon]] in France, Ventura always considered himself an Italian first and foremost, and never took French citizenship. He was nonetheless voted 23rd in a 2005 [[The Greatest Frenchman|poll]] of the 100 greatest Frenchmen.

==Life and career==
{{Moresources|section|date=November 2022}}
===Early life===
Born in [[Parma]], [[Emilia-Romagna]], Italy to Giovanni Ventura and Luisa Borrini, who moved to France soon thereafter, Lino dropped out of school at the age of eight and later took on a variety of jobs. At one point Ventura was pursuing a [[prizefighting]] and [[professional wrestling]] career, under the name Lino Borrini, but had to end it because of an injury.

===Early roles===
In 1953, by chance, one of his friends mentioned him to [[Jacques Becker]] who was looking for an Italian actor to play opposite Jean Gabin in a gangster movie called ''[[Touchez pas au grisbi]]'' (1954). Becker offered him on the spot the role of Angelo, which Ventura refused at first but then accepted. He had such a presence in the film that the whole profession took notice. The film was a big success.

Ventura started to build up an acting career in similar hard-boiled gangster films, often playing beside his friend [[Jean Gabin]], including his second film, ''[[Razzia sur la chnouf]]'' (1955).

He followed it with ''[[Law of the Streets]]'' (1956), ''[[Crime and Punishment (1956 film)|Crime and Punishment]]'' (1956) with Gabin.

===Later career===
[[File:Lino Ventura — David di Donatello 1974.jpg|thumb|Lino Ventura in 1974.]]

Some of his most famous roles include the portrait of corrupt police chief Tiger Brown in ''[[The Threepenny Opera]]'' (1963) and [[American Mafia|mob]] boss [[Vito Genovese]] in ''[[The Valachi Papers (film)|The Valachi Papers]]'' (1972).

Although he remained an Italian citizen throughout his life and long used to seeing himself dubbed into Italian from the original French release, he only made a handful of films in his native language, among them ''[[The Last Judgment (1961 film)|The Last Judgement]]'' (''Il giudizio universale'', 1961), ''[[Illustrious Corpses]]'' (''Cadaveri eccellenti'', 1976) and ''[[Cento Giorni a Palermo]]'' (1983).

Ventura remained active until the year before his death from a heart attack in 1987 at the age of 68. Having a disabled daughter himself, he created a charitable foundation, ''Perce-Neige'' (''Snowdrop'') in 1966, which supports disabled people.

Throughout his career, he was one of the most popular actors of French cinema. He spoke French without any accent (excepting a Parisian one at the beginning of his career) and spoke Italian with a slight French accent, having arrived in France at the age of seven. Forcibly conscripted into the Italian army during the Second World War, he deserted. But, although his wife and four children were French, he never wanted to give up Italian citizenship, out of respect for his parents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ina.fr/economie-et-societe/vie-sociale/video/CAB87037693/extrait-interview-ventura.fr.html |title=Vidéo Ina - Extrait interview Ventura, vidéo Extrait interview Ventura, vidéo Economie et société Vie sociale - Archives vidéos Economie et société Vie sociale |publisher=Ina.fr |date=1987-10-24 |access-date=2012-03-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jesuismort.com/biographie_celebrite_chercher/biographie-lino_ventura-1273.php |title=Lino VENTURA : Biographie de Lino VENTURA |publisher=JeSuisMort.com |access-date=2012-03-12}}</ref> Despite this, he was ranked 23rd of the 100 greatest Frenchmen, 17 years after his death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.in-nocence.org/public_forum/read.php?3,55365,55380 |title=Les 100 plus grands Français de tous les temps |publisher=In-nocence.org |access-date=2012-03-12}}</ref>

Somewhat paradoxically, Ventura attributed his great success to his limited range as an actor; and often said "If I cannot believe in a character, or if something does not ring true, I cannot act it."

In a 1980 interview he said that the previous year "I began to realize how incredibly lucky I had been since the age of 9, how much I had been loved by so many people. When I act, I am doing what I love, and I am paid for it. So I put myself in the service of the film, never the film in service to me."<ref name="globe">FESTIVAL OF FESTIVALS Lino Ventura is one star who thanks his lucky stars
Scott, Jay. The Globe and Mail 12 Sep 1980: P.15.</ref> He mentioned he turned down several roles - a part in ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'' (cut from the final film), a role in a [[Robert Aldrich]] film and the part played by [[François Truffaut]] in ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]''.<ref name="globe"/>

He said, "The story is everything. My good friend Jean Gabin told me 25 years ago there are three important things in movies: the story, the story and the story."<ref name="globe"/>

"I have limitations," he said. "I have no training; I could not do the classics. What I can do is myself. And I like best not to talk at all... I study the script, and then try to become the character. That is very mysterious, how that happens. I cannot explain it. There are so many mysteries in cinema, the way everything must interlock, that when you think of it all, you never want to make a film."<ref name="globe"/>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Title
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Director
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Starring
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes
|-
| 1954
| ''[[Touchez pas au grisbi]]''
| Angelo Fraiser
| Jacques Becker
| with [[Jean Gabin]] and [[Jeanne Moreau]]
|
|-
| 1955
| ''[[Razzia sur la chnouf]]''
| Roger "the Catalan“
| [[Henri Decoin]]
| with Jean Gabin
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1956
| ''[[Law of the Streets]]''
| Mario
| Ralph Habib
| with [[Jean-Louis Trintignant]] and [[Raymond Pellegrin]]
|
|-
| ''[[Crime and Punishment (1956 film)|Crime and Punishment]]''
| Gustave Messonnier
| [[Georges Lampin]]
| with Jean Gabin and [[Marina Vlady]]
|
|-
| rowspan=6|1957
| ''[[Burning Fuse]]''
| Legentil
| Henri Decoin
| with Raymond Pellegrin and [[Peter van Eyck]]
|
|-
| ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Action immédiate|fr|3=Action immédiate (film, 1957)|lt=Action immédiate}}''
| Bérès
| [[Maurice Labro]]
| with [[Henri Vidal]] and [[Barbara Laage]]
|
|-
| ''[[Speaking of Murder]]''
| Pepito
| [[Gilles Grangier]]
| with Jean Gabin and [[Annie Girardot]]
|
|-
| ''{{Interlanguage link multi|L'Étrange Monsieur Steve|fr}}''
| Denis
| Raymond Bailly
| with Jeanne Moreau and [[Philippe Lemaire]]
|
|-
| ''[[Three Days to Live]]''
| Lino Ferrari
| Gilles Grangier
| with [[Daniel Gélin]] and Jeanne Moreau
|
|-
| ''[[Ces dames préfèrent le mambo]]''
| Paulo
| [[Bernard Borderie]]
| with [[Eddie Constantine]]
|
|-
| rowspan=4|1958
| ''[[Maigret Sets a Trap (film)|Maigret Sets a Trap]]''
| Inspector Torrence
| [[Jean Delannoy]]
| with Jean Gabin and Annie Girardot
|
|-
| ''[[Elevator to the Gallows]]''
| Inspector Cherrier
| [[Louis Malle]]
| with Jeanne Moreau and [[Maurice Ronet]]
|
|-
| ''[[The Lovers of Montparnasse]]''
| Morel
| [[Jacques Becker]]
| with [[Gérard Philipe]], [[Anouk Aimée]] and [[Lilli Palmer]]
|
|-
| ''[[The Mask of the Gorilla]]''
| Géo Paquet
| Bernard Borderie
| with [[Charles Vanel]] and [[Bella Darvi]]
|
|-
| rowspan=7|1959
| ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Le fauve est lâché|fr}}''
| Paul Lamiani
| Maurice Labro
| with Estella Blain and [[Paul Frankeur]]
|
|-
| ''[[Marie-Octobre]]''
| Carlo Bernardi
| [[Julien Duvivier]]
| with [[Danielle Darrieux]]
|
|-
| ''Sursis pour un Vivant''
| Borcher
| Victor Merenda
| with [[Henri Vidal]] and [[Dawn Addams]]
|
|-
| ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Douze heures d'horloge|fr}}''
| Albert Fourbieux
| [[Géza von Radványi|Géza Radványi]]
| with [[Eva Bartok]], [[Hannes Messemer]] and [[Gert Fröbe]]
|
|-
| ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Un témoin dans la ville|fr}}''
| Ancelin
| [[Édouard Molinaro]]
| with Franco Fabrizzi and Sandra Milo
|
|-
| ''[[125 Rue Montmartre]]''
| Pascal
| Gilles Grangier
| with [[Andréa Parisy]]
|
|-
| ''[[Way of Youth]]''
| Tiercelin
| Michel Boisrond
| with [[Françoise Arnoul]], [[Bourvil]] and [[Alain Delon]]
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1960
| ''[[Classe Tous Risques|Classe tous risques]]''
| Abel Davos
| [[Claude Sautet]]
| with [[Sandra Milo]] and [[Jean-Paul Belmondo]]
|
|-
| ''[[Mistress of the World]]''
| Biamonte
| [[William Dieterle]]
| with [[Martha Hyer]] and [[Carlos Thompson]]
|
|-
| rowspan=5|1961
| ''[[Girl in the Window]]'' 
| Federico
| [[Luciano Emmer]]
| with Marina Vlady
|
|-
| ''[[Taxi for Tobruk]]''
| Theo Dumas
| [[Denys de La Patellière]]
| with [[Charles Aznavour]] and [[Hardy Krüger]]
|
|-
| ''[[The Last Judgment (1961 film)|The Last Judgment]]''
| Giovanna's father
| [[Vittorio De Sica]]
| with [[Jack Palance]] and Ernest Borgnine
|
|-
| ''[[Black City (film)|Black City]]''
| A gangster
| [[Duilio Coletti]]
| with [[Ernest Borgnine]] and [[Keenan Wynn]]
|
|-
| ''[[The Lions Are Loose]]''
| André Challenberg
| [[Henri Verneuil]]
| with [[Jean-Claude Brialy]] and [[Claudia Cardinale]]
|
|-
| rowspan=4|1962
| ''[[Emile's Boat]]''
| Émile Bouet
| Denys de La Patellière
| with Annie Girardot, [[Michel Simon]] and [[Pierre Brasseur]]
|
|-
| ''[[Girl on the Road]]''
| the driver
| [[Jacqueline Audry]]
| with Agathe Aems and [[Gilbert Bécaud]]
|
|-
| ''[[The Devil and the Ten Commandments]]''
| Garigny
| [[Julien Duvivier]]
| with [[Charles Aznavour]] and [[Louis de Funès]]
| (episode "Homicide point ne seras")
|-
| ''[[Carmen di Trastevere]]''
| Vincenzo
| [[Carmine Gallone]]
| with [[Giovanna Ralli]] and Dante di Paolo
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1963
| ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Three Penny Opera (1963 film)|de|3=Die Dreigroschenoper (1963)|lt=Three Penny Opera}}''
| Tiger Brown
| [[Wolfgang Staudte]]
| with [[Curd Jürgens]], [[Hildegard Knef]] and Gert Fröbe
|
|-
| ''[[Les Tontons flingueurs]]''
| Fernand Naudin
| [[Georges Lautner]]
| with [[Bernard Blier]], [[Francis Blanche]], [[Jean Lefebvre]], [[Sabine Sinjen]] and [[Horst Frank]]
|
|-
| rowspan=4|1964
| ''[[Greed in the Sun]]''
| Hervé Marec
| [[Henri Verneuil]]
| with Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bernard Blier and Gert Fröbe
|
|-
| ''[[Weeping for a Bandit]]''
| El Lutos
| [[Carlos Saura]]
| with [[Francisco Rabal]] and [[Lea Massari]]
|
|-
| ''[[The Monocle Laughs]]''
| Elie's Client
| [[Georges Lautner]]
| with [[Paul Meurisse]]
| [[cameo appearance]], Uncredited
|-
|''[[The Great Spy Chase]]''
| Francis Lagneau
| Georges Lautner
| with Bernard Blier and [[Mireille Darc]]
|
|-
| rowspan=3|1965
| ''[[The Dictator's Guns]]''
| Capt. Jacques Cournot
| Claude Sautet
| with [[Sylva Koscina]] and [[Leo Gordon]]
|
|-
| ''[[La Métamorphose des cloportes]]''
| Alphonse Maréchal
| [[Pierre Granier-Deferre]]
| with [[Irina Demick]], Pierre Brasseur and Charles Aznavour
|
|-
| ''[[The Wise Guys]]'' 
| Laurent
| [[Robert Enrico]]
| with [[Bourvil]] and Marie Dubois
|
|-
| rowspan=3|1966
| ''[[Ne nous fâchons pas]]'' 
| Antoine Beretto
| Georges Lautner
| with Jean Lefebvre and [[Mireille Darc]]
|
|-
| ''[[To Skin a Spy]]''
| Pascal Fabre
| [[Jacques Deray]]
| with [[Jean Servais]] and Marilu Tolo
|
|-
| ''[[Le deuxième souffle (1966 film)|Le Deuxième Souffle]]''
| Gustave Minda
| [[Jean-Pierre Melville]]
| with Paul Meurisse and Raymond Pellegrin
|
|-
| 1967
| ''[[The Last Adventure (1967 film)|The Last Adventure]]''
| Roland
| Robert Enrico
| with Alain Delon and [[Joanna Shimkus]]
|
|-
| 1968
| ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Le Rapace|fr}}''
| Rital
| [[José Giovanni]]
| with Rosa Furman and Xavier Marc
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1969
| ''[[Army of Shadows]]''
| Philippe Gerbier
| [[Jean-Pierre Melville]]
| with [[Simone Signoret]]
|
|-
| ''[[Le clan des siciliens|Le Clan des Siciliens]]''
| Inspector Le Goff
| [[Henri Verneuil]]
| with Jean Gabin, Alain Delon and [[Irina Demick]]
|
|-
| 1970
| ''[[Last Known Address]]''
| Chief inspector Marceau Leonetti
| José Giovanni
| with [[Marlène Jobert]]
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1971
| ''[[Fantasia Among the Squares]]''
| Sagamore Noonan
| [[Gérard Pirès]]
| with [[Mireille Darc]] and [[Jean Yanne]]
|
|-
| ''[[Boulevard du Rhum]]''
| Cornelius von Zeelinga
| Robert Enrico
| with [[Brigitte Bardot]] and [[Guy Marchand]]
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1972
| ''[[The Valachi Papers (film)|The Valachi Papers]]''
| Vito Genovese
| [[Terence Young (director)|Terence Young]]
| with [[Charles Bronson]] and [[Jill Ireland]]
|
|-
| ''[[L'aventure, c'est l'aventure]]''
| Lino Massaro
| [[Claude Lelouch]]
| with [[Jacques Brel]], [[Charles Denner]] and Charles Gérard
|
|-
| rowspan=5|1973
|''[[Escape to Nowhere (1973 film)|Escape to Nowhere]]''
| Clément Tibère
| [[Claude Pinoteau]]
| with Lea Massari
|
|-
| ''La Raison du Plus Fou''
| Le deuxième motard
| [[François Reichenbach]]
| with [[Raymond Devos]] and Alice Sapritch
| cameo appearance, Uncredited
|-
| ''[[La bonne année]]''
| Simon
| Claude Lelouch
| with [[Françoise Fabian]]
|
|-
| ''[[Far West (film)|Far West]]''
| the prisoner
| [[Jacques Brel]]
| with Gabriel Jabbour and Danièle Evenou
|
|-
| ''[[L'emmerdeur|L'Emmerdeur]]''
| Ralf Milan
| Edouard Molinaro
| with [[Jacques Brel]]
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1974
| ''[[Three Tough Guys]]''
| Father Charlie
| [[Duccio Tessari]]
| with [[Isaac Hayes]] and [[Fred Williamson]]
|
|-
| ''[[The Slap (film)|The Slap]]''
| Jean Douléan
| Claude Pinoteau
| with [[Annie Girardot]] and [[Isabelle Adjani]]
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1975
| ''{{Interlanguage link multi|La Cage (1975 film)|fr|3=La Cage (film)|lt=La Cage}}''
| Julien
| [[Pierre Granier-Deferre]]
| with [[Ingrid Thulin]]
|
|-
| ''[[The French Detective]]''
| Inspector Verjeat
| Pierre Granier-Deferre
| with [[Patrick Dewaere]] and Françoise Brion
|
|-
| 1976
| ''[[Illustrious Corpses]]''
| Inspector Amerigo Rogas
| [[Francesco Rosi]]
| with [[Fernando Rey]] and [[Max von Sydow]]
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1978
| ''[[The Medusa Touch (film)|The Medusa Touch]]''
| Detective-inspector Brunel
| [[Jack Gold]]
| with [[Richard Burton]] and [[Lee Remick]]
|
|-
| ''[[Butterfly on the Shoulder]]''
| Roland Fériaud
| Jacques Deray
| with [[Claudine Auger]] and Paul Crauchet
|
|-
| 1979
| ''[[Jigsaw (1979 film)|Jigsaw]] (L'Homme en colère)''
| Romain Dupre
| Claude Pinoteau
| with [[Angie Dickinson]] and [[Donald Pleasence]]
|
|-
| 1980
| ''[[Sunday Lovers|Les Seducteurs]]''
| François Quérole
| Edouard Molinaro
| with Catherine Salviat
| (segment "The French Method")
|-
| 1981
| ''[[Garde à Vue|Garde à vue]]''
| Inspector Antoine Gallien
| [[Claude Miller]]
| with [[Michel Serrault]] and [[Romy Schneider]]
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1982
| ''[[Espion, lève-toi]]''
| Sébastien Grenier
| [[Yves Boisset]]
| with [[Michel Piccoli]] and [[Bruno Cremer]]
|
|-
| ''[[Les Misérables (1982 film)|Les Misérables]]''
| Jean Valjean
| [[Robert Hossein]]
| with [[Michel Bouquet]]
|
|-
| 1983
| ''[[The Ruffian]]''
| Aldo
| José Giovanni
| with Bernard Giraudeau and [[Claudia Cardinale]]
|
|-
| rowspan=3|1984
| ''[[One Hundred Days in Palermo]]''
| General Carlo Dalla Chiesa
| Giuseppe Ferrara
| with Lino Troisi
|
|-
| ''{{Interlanguage link multi|La Septième Cible|fr}}''
| Bastien Grimaldi
| Claude Pinoteau
| with Lea Massari
|
|-
| ''La jonque chinoise''
|
| Claude Bernard-Aubert
|
|
|-
| 1986
| ''[[Sword of Gideon]]''
| Papa
| [[Michael Anderson (director)|Michael Anderson]]
| with [[Rod Steiger]] and [[Michael York]]
| TV movie
|-
| 1987
| ''La Rumba''
| Un caïd
| [[Roger Hanin]]
| with [[Roger Hanin]], [[Michel Piccoli]] and Corinne Touzet
| cameo appearance, Uncredited, (final film role)
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Durant, Philippe (1989): ''Lino Ventura''. Bergisch Gladbach: Lübbe. {{ISBN|3-404-61142-X}}
* Durieux, Gilles (2001): ''Lino Ventura''. Paris: Flammarion. {{ISBN|2-08-068113-3}}
* Giovanni, José (2002): ''Mes Grandes Gueules''. Fayard. {{ISBN|2-213-61262-5}}
* Ventura, Clélia (2003): ''Lino ou la Gourmandise de la Vie''. Paris: Robert Laffont. {{ISBN|2-221-09884-6}}
* Ventura, Odette (1992): ''Lino''. Paris: Robert Laffont. {{ISBN|2-7242-7179-3}} (see also: External Links)
* Ventura, Odette (1993): ''Lino''. Weinheim; Berlin: Beltz Quadriga. {{ISBN|3-88679-217-X}}
* Ventura, Odette (1997): ''Lino''. Paris: Robert Laffont. {{ISBN|2-221-08646-5}}
* Ventura, Odette (1997): ''Lino''. Guanda "Biblioteca della Pilotta". ISBN
* Zurhorst, Meinolf / Just, Lothar (1984). ''Lino Ventura: Seine Filme – Sein Leben''. München: Heyne. {{ISBN|3-453-86065-9}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Portal|Biography}}
* {{IMDb name|0893341}}
*http://tontonsflingueurs.actifforum.com/ French Site Lino Ventura
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20031102104924/http://www.argos.asso.fr/archiv/cultur03/texte/honneur.htm Les Premières Rencontres Nationales &ndash; Art, Culture et Handicap &ndash; Bourges du 19 au 21 octobre 2003]
* [http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/actualites/communiq/aillagon/bourgesoct03.htm Rencontres &ndash; Art, Culture et Handicap &ndash; Lundi 20 octobre à Bourges]
* [http://www.perce-neige.org/ Lino Ventura Foundation]
*[http://www.boxofficestory.com/box-office-lino-ventura-c22694811 Box office figures for Lino Ventura films] at Box Office Story

{{Silver Shell for Best Actor}}
{{César Awards presidents}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ventura, Lino}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1987 deaths]]
[[Category:Italian emigrants to France]]
[[Category:Italian male film actors]]
[[Category:French male film actors]]
[[Category:Male actors from Paris]]
[[Category:20th-century French male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian male actors]]