Michele Placido

Michele Placido (born 19 May 1946) is an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. He began his career on stage, and first gained mainstream attention through a series of roles in films directed by the likes of Mario Monicelli and Marco Bellocchio, winning the Berlinale's Silver Bear for Best Actor for his performance in the 1979 film Ernesto. He is known internationally for portraying police inspector Corrado Cattani on the crime drama television series La piovra (1984–2001). Placido's directorial debut, Pummarò, was screened Un Certain Regard at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. Three of his films have competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. He is a five-time Nastro d'Argento and four-time David di Donatello winner. In 2021, Placido was appointed President of the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara.

Early life
Placido was born at Ascoli Satriano, into a poor family from Rionero in Vulture, Basilicata; he is a descendant of the known brigand Carmine Crocco. Placido had a number of jobs since his youth. For a time, he worked as a police officer in Rome, and was involved in the Battle of Valle Giulia. He studied acting at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, and with Silvio D'Amico at the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica.

Career
Placido made his debut as an actor in the play Midsummer Night's Dream in 1969. Two years later he started film work under directors such as Luigi Comencini, Mario Monicelli, Salvatore Samperi, Damiano Damiani, Pasquale Squitieri, Francesco Rosi, Walerian Borowczyk, Marco Bellocchio, Paolo Cavara and Carlo Lizzani. His first success came with the role of soldier Paolo Passeri in Marcia trionfale (1976, directed by Bellocchio), for which he won a David di Donatello. Two years later he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor award at the 29th Berlin International Film Festival for his role of the homosexual worker in ironical melodrama Ernesto (1978, by Samperi).

He appeared in several TV movies in the 1970s, but 1983 marked the beginning of his greatest television popularity when he played the lead as a police inspector investigating the Mafia in Damiano Damiani's TV series La piovra. He went on to play the same part in the subsequent three seasons, until his character's assassination. Afterwards he would appear as a law enforcement official in a number of other films and TV productions dealing with organized crime, including a semi-biographical movie about Giovanni Falcone, where he acted as the titular judge. In 2008, in a reversal of roles, he portrayed longtime Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano in the TV movie L'ultimo padrino. A recognizable role to US audiences is that of an Italian businessman in the 1988 comedy Big Business.

Personal life
Until a divorce in 1994, he was married to actress Simonetta Stefanelli. Their daughter Violante Placido is also an actress.

In 2012, he married actress Federica Vincenti (born 1983) after over 10 years of dating. The couple divorced in December 2017.

He supported the candidacy for mayor of Rome of the italian entrepreneur Alfio Marchini in the 2016 Italian local elections. His nephew, Alessandro Onorato, is the Councilor for Major Events, Sport and Tourism for Rome.

Actor

 * Il caso Pisciotta (1972, Eriprando Visconti) .... Amerigo Lo Jacono
 * Mia moglie, un corpo per l'amore (1973, Mario Imperoli) .... Partner di Simona al night
 * The Black Hand (The Birth of the Mafia) (1973, Antonio Racioppi) .... Antonio Turris
 * Non ho tempo (1973) .... Studente
 * Il Picciotto (1973, TV Movie, Alberto Negrin) .... Rosario Mandalà
 * Teresa the Thief (1973, Carlo Di Palma) .... Tonino Santità
 * Till Marriage Do Us Part (1974, Luigi Comencini) .... Silvano Pennacchini
 * Come Home and Meet My Wife (1974, Mario Monicelli) .... Giovanni Pizzullo
 * Orlando Furioso (1974, TV Mini-Series, Luca Ronconi) .... Agramante
 * Processo per direttissima (1974, Lucio De Caro) .... Stefano Baldini
 * Moses the Lawgiver (1974, TV Mini-Series, Gianfranco De Bosio) .... Caleb
 * Scandal in the Family (1975, Bruno Gaburro) .... Milo
 * The Divine Nymph (1975, Giuseppe Patroni Griffi) .... Martino Ghiondelli
 * Marcia trionfale (1976, Marco Bellocchio) .... Paolo Passeri
 * And Agnes Chose to Die (1976, Giuliano Montaldo) .... Tom
 * La Orca (1976, Eriprando Visconti) .... Michele Turrisi
 * Plot of Fear (1976, Paolo Cavara) .... Inspector Gaspare Lomenzo
 * Oedipus Orca (1977, Eriprando Visconti) .... Michele Turrisi
 * Kleinhoff Hotel (1977, Carlo Lizzani) .... Pedro
 * Beach House (1977, Sergio Citti) .... Vincenzino
 * The Pyjama Girl Case (1978, Flavio Mogherini) .... Antonio Attolini
 * Io sono mia (1978, Sofia Scandurra) .... Giacinto
 * Corleone (1978, Pasquale Squitieri) .... Michele Labruzzo
 * Ernesto (1979, Salvatore Samperi) .... The Man
 * Tigers in Lipstick (1979, Luigi Zampa) .... Angelo / The Photographer
 * A Man on His Knees (1979, Damiano Damiani) .... Antonio Platamonte
 * The Meadow (1979, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani) .... Enzo
 * Saturday, Sunday and Friday (1979, 3 directors) .... Mario Salvetti (segment "Domenica")
 * A Leap in the Dark (1980, Marco Bellocchio) ... Giovanni Sciabola
 * Lulu (1980 film) (1980, Walerian Borowczyk) .... Schwarz
 * Fontamara (1980, Carlo Lizzani) .... Berardo Viola
 * Three Brothers (1981, Francesco Rosi) .... Nicola Giuranna
 * The Wings of the Dove (1981, Benoît Jacquot) .... Sandro
 * Cargo (1981, Serge Dubor) .... Giovanni
 * Sciopèn (1982, Luciano Odorisio) .... Francesco Maria Vitale
 * Ars amandi (1983, Walerian Borowczyk) .... Macarius
 * Les Amants terribles (1984, Danièle Dubroux and Stavros Kaplanidis) .... Sergio
 * La piovra (1984, TV Mini-Series, Damiano Damiani) .... Commissario Corrado Cattani
 * La piovra, (1985, TV Mini-Series, Florestano Vancini) .... Commissario Corrado Cattani
 * Pizza Connection (1985, Damiano Damiani) .... Mario Aloia
 * Summer Night (1986, Lina Wertmüller) .... Beppe Catanìa
 * Grandi magazzini (1986, Castellano & Pipolo) .... Director
 * La piovra, (1987, TV TV Mini-Series, Luigi Perelli) .... Commissario Corrado Cattani
 * Come sono buoni i bianchi (1988, Marco Ferreri) .... Michele
 * Private Affairs (1988, Francesco Massaro) .... Lionello Martini
 * Big Business (1988, Jim Abrahams) .... Fabio Alberici
 * Via Paradiso (1988, Luciano Odorisio) .... Francesco
 * La piovra, (1989, TV Mini-Series, Luigi Perelli) ... Commissario Corrado Cattani
 * Mery per sempre (1989, Marco Risi) .... Marco Terzi
 * Afghan Breakdown (1991, Vladimir Bortko) .... Major Bandura
 * Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel (1992, TV miniseries, Paul Krasny) .... Col. Roberto Chavez
 * Scoop (1992, TV TV Mini-Series, José María Sánchez) .... Marco Bonilli
 * Close Friends (1992, Michele Placido) .... father of Simona
 * Uomo di rispetto (1992, TV Movie, Damiano Damiani) .... Nino
 * Quattro bravi ragazzi (1993, Claudio Camarca) .... Marcione
 * Giovanni Falcone (1993) .... Giovanni Falcone
 * Father and Son (1994, Pasquale Pozzessere) .... Corrado
 * Lamerica (1994, Gianni Amelio) .... Fiore
 * Policemen (1994, Giulio Base) .... Sante Carella
 * Un eroe borghese (1995, Michele Placido) .... Silvio Novembre
 * La Lupa (1996, Gabriele Lavia) .... Malerba
 * Racket (1997, TV Mini-Series, Luigi Perelli) .... Guido Gerosa
 * La Missione (1998, TV Movie, Maurizio Zaccaro) .... Padre Ramboni
 * Le Plaisir (et ses petits tracas) (1998, Nicolas Boukhrief) .... Carlo
 * Of Lost Love (1998, Michele Placido) .... Don Gerardo
 * Dirty Linen (1999, Mario Monicelli) .... Furio Cimin
 * The Nanny (1999, Marco Bellocchio) .... Belli Estate Patient
 * A Respectable Man (1999, Maurizio Zaccaro) .... Enzo Tortora
 * Terra bruciata (1999, Fabio Segatori) .... Fra' Salvatore
 * Free the Fish (2000) .... Michele Verrio
 * Padre Pio - Tra cielo e terra (2000, TV Movie) .... Padre Pio da Pietralcina
 * Tra due mondi (2001) .... Uzeda
 * Il Sequestro Soffiantini (2002, TV Movie) .... Giuseppe Soffiantini
 * Searching for Paradise (2002) .... Giorgio Mattei
 * Mario Monicelli, l'artigiano di Viareggio (2002) .... Himself
 * Il posto dell'anima (2003) .... Salvatore
 * Soraya (film) (2003, TV Movie) .... Enrico Mattei
 * Un papà quasi perfetto (2003, TV Mini-Series) .... Michele Salvi
 * Love Returns (2004) .... Dottor Bianco
 * The Smell of Blood (2004) .... Carlo
 * Caterina in the Big City (2003) .... Himself (Special Guest)
 * Il Grande Torino (2005, TV Movie) .... Angelo, 2004
 * Estrenando sueños (2005) .... Padre Freddo
 * Liolà (2005)
 * The Goodbye Kiss (2006) .... Anedda
 * The Caiman (2006) .... Marco Pulici / Silvio Berlusconi
 * Karol: The Pope, The Man (2006, TV Movie) .... Dr. Renato Buzzonetti
 * The Unknown Woman (2006) .... Muffa
 * The Roses of the Desert (2006) .... Frate Simeone
 * Commediasexi (2006) .... Salvatore Lisassi
 * SoloMetro (2007) .... Enrico Alvari
 * Piano, solo (2007) .... Giovanni
 * 2061: An Exceptional Year (2007) .... Cardinale Bonifacio Colonna
 * L'ultimo padrino (2008, TV Movie) .... Bernardo Provenzano
 * The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider (2008) .... Count Sternberk
 * La luna nel deserto (2008, short) .... Leone (voice)
 * Aldo Moro - Il presidente (2008, TV Movie) .... Aldo Moro
 * Blood of the Losers (2008) .... Commissario Franco Dogliani
 * Focaccia blues (2009) .... Proiezionista
 * Baarìa (2009) .... Communist
 * The Big Dream (2009) .... Andrea
 * Oggi sposi (2009) .... Sabino Impanato
 * Parents and Children: Shake Well Before Using (2010) .... Alberto
 * Manuale d'amore 3 (2011) .... Augusto
 * Amici miei – Come tutto ebbe inizio (2011) .... Duccio Villani di Masi
 * Tulpa (2012) .... Roccaforte
 * The Lookout (2012) .... Giovanni
 * Viva l'Italia (2012) .... Michele Spagnolo
 * Razza bastarda (2012) .... Avv. Silvestri
 * Itaker - Vietato agli italiani (2012) .... Pantano'
 * Living Legends (2014) .... Christiano Negri
 * The Choice (2015) .... Emilio Nicotri
 * Io che amo solo te (2015) .... Domenico Scagliusi aka don Mimì
 * Un'avventura romantica (2016) .... Vittorio De Sica
 * 7 Minutes (2016) .... Michele Varazzi, il proprietario della fabbrica
 * La cena di Natale (2016) .... Don Mimì
 * Lectura Ovidii (2019) .... Himself
 * I Hate Summer (2020) .... Marshal of Carabinieri
 * Caravaggio's Shadow (2022) .... Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte

Director

 * Pummarò (1990)
 * Close Friends (1992)
 * Un eroe borghese (1995)
 * Of Lost Love (1998)
 * Un Altro mondo è possibile (2001)
 * A Journey Called Love (2002)
 * Ovunque sei (2004)
 * Romanzo criminale (2005)
 * The Big Dream (2009)
 * L'Aquila 2009 - Cinque registi tra le macerie (2009)
 * Vallanzasca - Gli angeli del male (2010)
 * Le Guetteur (2012)
 * The Choice (2015)
 * 7 Minutes (2016)
 * Caravaggio's Shadow (2022)