Nino Castelnuovo

Francesco "Nino" Castelnuovo (28 October 1936 – 6 September 2021) was an Italian actor of film, stage and television, best known for his starring role as Guy Foucher in the musical film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964).

Castelnuovo's other notable films include Rocco and His Brothers (1960), Camille 2000 (1969), L'emmerdeur (1973), Il prato macchiato di rosso (1973), Massacre Time (1966), The Five Man Army (1969), and The English Patient (1996).

Early life

Castelnuovo was born the youngest of three boys in Lecco, Lombardy into a humble family. He had two older brothers, Pierantonio (b. 1930; d. 1976) and Clemente.

After being a house painter, a mechanic and a workman, he moved to Milan, where he started working as a sales agent, and at the same time, he enrolled in the acting school of the Piccolo Teatro in Milan. He became a father for the first time to his son Lorenzo when he married Danila Trebbi (b. 1955), an Italian actress.

Career

In 1957, Castelnuovo debuted as a mime in the RAI children's television show Zurli il mago del giovedì.

He landed a small part in Un maledetto imbroglio (The Facts of Murder, 1959), directed by Pietro Germi, and played supporting roles in films, including The Hunchback of Rome, directed by Carlo Lizzani, and Rocco and His Brothers, directed by Luchino Visconti; both were released in 1960.

When the American television show Disneyland traveled to Italy in 1962, he appeared with Annette Funicello in two episodes of the mini-movie, Escapade in Florence, singing, playing the guitar, and adding the Italian verses to the jovial tarantella "Dream Boy".

Castelnuovo's breakthrough role arrived with The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), directed by Jacques Demy, in which he played opposite Catherine Deneuve. Nominated for the American Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the film gained the attention of both film critics and the public, and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in February the same year.

After the box-office failures Un mondo nuovo (1966), directed by Vittorio De Sica, and The Reward, directed by Serge Bourguignon, – he gained fame as an actor in Italy because of his role of Renzo in the television mini-series I promessi sposi (1967).

He also starred alongside an international cast in The Five Man Army (1969), directed by Don Taylor, as a Mexican revolutionary, and as Armand in Camille 2000 (1969), directed by Radley Metzger.

From then on, Castelnuovo was featured primarily on television serials around Europe, where he portrayed numerous parts. He appeared as the athletically sound spokesman for the corn-oil company Cuore from 1977 to 1982.

Castelnuovo also appeared briefly as D'Agostino in The English Patient (1996), and he continued to be active on the Italian theatre stage. In 2002, he starred in a production of the 1931 comedy play The Front Page (Italian title, Prima Pagina).

He appeared as Kenny Butler in the 2016 The Legacy Run with sport personalities Daniela Scalia, Luca Tramontin, Marco Baron, Flavien Conne, Ivan Asic, and Stefania Bianchini.

Selected filmography

• The Virtuous Bigamist (1956) - Minor rôle (uncredited)
• The Facts of Murder (1959) - L'Elettricista
• The Angel Wore Red (1960) - Capt. Trinidad (uncredited)
• Rocco and His Brothers (1960) - Nino Rossi
• La garçonnière (1960) - Vincenzo
• Everybody Go Home (1960) - Codegato
• The Hunchback of Rome (1960) - Cencio
• Laura nuda (1961) - Franco - il marito di Laura
• A Day for Lionhearts (1961) - Danilo
• Day by Day, Desperately (1961) - Gabriele Dominici
• Escapade in Florence (1962) - Bruno
• The Shortest Day (1963) - Corteggiatore (uncredited)
• The Eye of the Needle (1963) - Nicola Badalà
• The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) - Guy Foucher
• Una sporca faccenda (1964)
• The Cavern (1964) - Mario Scognamiglio
• The Double Bed (1965) - L'amant (segment 2 "Le monstre")
• The Reward (1965) - Luis
• Made in Italy (1965) - Dr. Gavino Piras (segment "2 'Il Lavoro', episode 2")
• Un monde nouveau (1966) - Carlo
• Andremo in città (1966) - Ivan, un partigiano
• Massacre Time (1966) - Jason 'Junior' Scott
• Les Créatures (1966) - Jean Modet
• On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who... (1967) - Marculfo
• Red Roses for the Fuhrer (1968) - Vincent
• Salvare la faccia (1969) - Mario
• Mercanti di vergini (1969)
• Love and Anger (1969) - The Director (segment "L'amore")
• The Five Man Army (1969) - Luis Dominguez
• Camille 2000 (1969) - Armand Duval
• Diary of a Telephone Operator (1969) - Piero
• The Divorce (1970) - Piero
• Bella di giorno moglie di notte (1971) - Giorgio
• Colpo grosso... grossissimo... anzi probabile (1972) - Sandro
• Il prato macchiato di rosso (1973) - A UNESCO agent
• L'emmerdeur (1973) - Bellhop
• Gott schützt die Liebenden (1973)
• Un amour de pluie (1974) - Giovanni
• Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975) - Carlo
• Amore mio spogliati... che poi ti spiego! (1975) - Giuliano
• That Malicious Age (1975) - Napoleone
• La collegiale (1975) - Marco
• Star Odyssey (1979) - Lt. Oliver 'Hollywood' Carrera
• The English Patient (1996) - D'Agostino
• Senza la parola fine (2003)
• Il sottile fascino del peccato (2010) - Padre di Giada
• The Legacy Run (2016) - Kenny Butler