Corrado Gaipa

Corrado Gaipa (13 March 1925 – 21 September 1989) was an Italian actor and voice actor.

Gaipa was a well known actor of Italian cinema as well as dubbing voices. However, he was widely known for his role as Don Tommasino in The Godfather.

Biography
Born in Palermo, Gaipa enrolled in the Silvio d'Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he studied for three years and performed an adaptation of the play You Can't Take It with You. He then graduated in 1946. In 1948, Gaipa joined a theatre group based in Rome and he began doing radio dramas which were broadcast in many cities across Italy such as Turin, Florence and Milan. He also appeared in many films such as the 1969 film That Splendid November. Internationally, he was well known for having played Don Tommasino in the 1972 film The Godfather directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

While also active on stage, radio and television, he was mainly active as a voice actor and a dubber. As for Gaipa's activity as a voice actor, he was the Italian voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi (portrayed by Alec Guinness) in the Star Wars original trilogy as well as Bagheera in the Italian-Language version of The Jungle Book. He also dubbed over the voices of Lionel Stander, Eli Wallach, Peter Ustinov, Rod Steiger, Orson Welles, Burt Lancaster and Spencer Tracy. He also assisted with the foundation of a dubbing company in the 1970s alongside Renato Turi, Giancarlo Giannini, Valeria Valeri, Oreste Lionello and other historical dubbers.

Illness and death
In Gaipa's later years, he had serious health problems. He went from using a walking stick to using a wheelchair and he died in Rome on 21 September 1989, at the age of 64. At the time of his death, he had just signed to reprise the role of Don Tommasino in The Godfather Part III. The role was instead passed on to Vittorio Duse.

Cinema

 * West and Soda (1965) − (voice)
 * Shoot Twice (1968) − (voice)
 * VIP my Brother Superman (1968) − (voice)
 * That Splendid November (1969) − Uncle Alfio
 * The Pizza Triangle (1970) − President of tribunal
 * Metello (1970) − Badolati
 * The Man with Icy Eyes (1971) − Isaac Thetman
 * The Fifth Cord (1971) − Editor
 * My Dear Killer (1972) − Head of Insurance Company
 * Execution Squad (1972) − L'avvocato Armani
 * The Godfather (1972) − Don Tommasino
 * The Eroticist (1972) − Don Gesualdo
 * Shadows Unseen (1972) − Günther Rosenthal
 * Without Family (1972) − Giudice
 * Il caso Pisciotta (1972) − Direttore del carcere
 * The Sicilian Connection (1972) − Calogero
 * Il Boss (1973) − Avvocato Rizzo
 * I Kiss the Hand (1973) − Don Emilio Grisanti
 * 1931: Once Upon a Time in New York (1973) − Mob Boss
 * The Black Hand (The Birth of the Mafia) (1973) − Lawyer
 * Tony Arzenta (1973) − Arzenta's Father
 * Chino (1973) − Padre
 * Anna, quel particolare piacere (1973) − Doctor
 * Giordano Bruno (1973)
 * The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine (1974) − Father Onorio
 * What Have They Done to Your Daughters? (1974) − Prosecutor
 * Prigione di donne (1974) − Magistrate
 * Illustrious Corpses (1976) − Supposed Mafioso
 * The Red Nights of the Gestapo (1977) − Udo Kassbaum
 * I vizi morbosi di una governante (1977) − The Inspector
 * La malavita attacca... la polizia risponde! (1977) − Dottore
 * A Spiral of Mist (1977) − Pietro Sangermano
 * Giuseppe Fava: Siciliano come me (1984) − (final film role)

Television

 * La rosa bianca (1971, TV Movie)
 * Maigret va in pensione (1972) - Germain Cageot
 * Napoleone a Sant'Elena (1973) - Lord Liverpool
 * Ho incontrato un'ombra (1974) - Buache
 * Ritratto di donna velata (1975) - Il Nebbia
 * Il marsigliese (1975) - Tanino Sciacca
 * La mossa del cavallo (1977) - Il maestro
 * Storie della camorra (1978) - Onorevole Colajanni
 * La dama dei veleni (1979) - Guido Santacroce
 * Marco Polo (1982) - Senator

Animation

 * Bagheera in The Jungle Book
 * Scat Cat in The Aristocats
 * Abraracourcix in Asterix the Gaul
 * Owl in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day

Live action

 * Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
 * Frank Poole's Father in 2001: A Space Odyssey
 * Brett McBain in Once Upon a Time in the West
 * Sanchez in Bananas
 * Matt Drayton in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
 * Ron Hamer in Great White
 * Adam Coffin in The Deep
 * Bill Gillespie in In the Heat of the Night
 * Italo Bombolini in The Secret of Santa Vittoria
 * Lord Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
 * Emilio Pajetta in The Hindenburg
 * M in On Her Majesty's Secret Service
 * Captain Blackbeard in Blackbeard's Ghost
 * Sergei Zharkov in Scorpio
 * Captain Hornsby in Too Late the Hero
 * Pater Hoffmann in Ludwig
 * Theo Van Horn in Ten Days' Wonder
 * Roman Castevet Rosemary's Baby
 * Leo Joseph Smooth in Never a Dull Moment
 * Colonel Clay Thornbush in Private Benjamin
 * Colonel Cascorro in Tepepa
 * Judge Adam Fenton in Hang 'Em High
 * William Marshall in The Lion in Winter
 * Don Fabrizio Corbera in The Leopard
 * Archer J. Maggott in The Dirty Dozen
 * Cardinal Leone in The Shoes of the Fisherman
 * William F. Kinderman in The Exorcist
 * Harvey Lapchance in The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
 * Sheriff Lyle Wallace in Convoy
 * Auguste Maroilleur in La Horse
 * Carl Bugenhagen in Damien: Omen II
 * Tramp in A Clockwork Orange