Lando Buzzanca

Lando Buzzanca and Delia Scala in the television show Signore e signora (1970)

Born in Palermo the son of a cinema projectionist, at 16 years old Buzzanca left the high school and moved to Rome to pursue his dream of becoming an actor.[1][2] In order to survive, he took many jobs including waiter, furniture mover, and a brief appearance as a slave in the film Ben-Hur. He made his official debut in Pietro Germi's Divorce, Italian Style, and soon specialized in the role of the average immigrant from southern Italy.[2][3]

After two successful "James Tont" films in which he played a parody of James Bond, starting from the late 1960s, Buzzanca got a large success in a series of satirical commedia sexy all'italiana films which satirized major institutions such as politics, religion, trade unions and financial world. With the decline of the genre, he slowed his film activities, focusing into theatre and television, in which he enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the 2000s thanks to a series of well-received TV-series.[2][3]

In 2013, following the death of his wife Lucia and a heavy depression, Buzzanca attempted suicide by cutting his veins.[4]
In 2014 he suffered from a mild cerebral ischemia which caused him aphasia, but by the following year he had fully recovered from his depressive period and started a relationship with a younger woman, Antonella.
In 2016 he participated as dancer in the television program Ballando con le Stelle and started a new and intense romance with a younger actress and journalist Francesca Della Valle.[5]

In 2019 Buzzanca lived a great moment of happiness with his partner, Francesca, to whom he has been romantically linked since 2016, whom he would liked to marry.[6][7]

In 2020 Buzzanca had some disagreements with his sons for the administration of family assets, and at the request of his sons to the tutelary judge he is joined by an administrator in the management of his assets.[8]

On 21 April 2021, the day after being vaccinated for COVID-19, he fell at home due to a sudden illness that left him unconscious. He suffered a head injury and was rescued by the maid, who found him the day after the accident still unconscious on the ground and called an ambulance. He was admitted to the Santo Spirito hospital in Rome.[9][10][11]

On 15 August 2021, Buzzanca, after the treatment received at the hospital, seems to have fully recovered, as confirmed also by his son Massimiliano. Furthermore, he would be ready to marry again in Rome with his partner Francesca Della Valle.[12]

David di Donatello

Golden Globes, Italy

• Lando Buzzanca at IMDb