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John Carradine, the son of a reporter/artist and a surgeon, grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York. He attended Christ Church School and Graphic Art School, studying sculpture, and afterward roamed the South selling sketches. He made his acting debut in "Camille" in a New Orleans theatre in 1925. Arriving in Los Angeles in 1927, he worked in local theatre. He applied for a job as as scenic designer to Cecil B. DeMille, who rejected his designs but gave him voice work in several films. His on-screen debut was in Tol'able David (1930), billed as Peter Richmond. A protégé and close friend of John Barrymore, Carradine was an extremely prolific film character actor while simultaneously maintaining a stage career in classic leading roles such as Hamlet and Malvolio. In his later years he was typed as a horror star, putting in appearances in many low- and ultra-low-budget horror films. He was a member of the group of actors often used by director John Ford that became known as "The John Ford Stock Company". John Carradine died at age 82 of natural causes on November 27, 1988.

Teresa Ann Savoy was born on 18 July 1955 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Caligula (1979), Madam Kitty (1976) and Bambina (1974). She died on 9 January 2017 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

Valentina Cortese was born in Milan on New Year's Day of 1923. She made her movie debut in 1940 and played many "ingenue" parts in Italian films of that period, before making a real sensation in Caccia all'uomo (1948) and Tempesta su Parigi (1948), playing both female leads, Fantine and Cosette (the film was a competent screen adaptation of the Victor Hugo classic "Les misérables"). The international success of the British-made melodrama The Glass Mountain (1949) brought her some Hollywood offers: she was very sensual as a truck-driver's mistress in Jules Dassin's film noir Thieves' Highway (1949), and particularly effective in Robert Wise's thriller The House on Telegraph Hill (1951), in which she portrayed a woman pursued by a killer.

She then returned to Europe and worked with many great directors, like Michelangelo Antonioni, who cast her in Le amiche (1955), and Federico Fellini, who gave her a supporting part in his surrealist fantasy Juliet of the Spirits (1965). She had an especially robust part in Francois Truffaut's Day for Night (1973) as a fading alcoholic movie star (she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for this performance). She also had a stage career, working with writers and directors such as Giorgio Strehler and Franco Zeffirelli and starring in the title roles of Schiller's "Mary Stuart" and Wedekind's "Lulu".

Rosanna Schiaffino was born on 25 November 1939 in Genoa, Liguria, Italy. She was an actress, known for La mandragola (1965), The Miracle of the Wolves (1961) and Romulus and the Sabines (1961). She was married to Giorgio Enrico Falck and Alfredo Bini. She died on 17 October 2009 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

Luisi Pistilli's most notable stage successes were roles in "The Threepenny Opera", "St. Joan of the Stockyards" and a 1972 production, "Lulu". In 1991 he reprised his role in "Lulu" in the first professional collaboration with actress-singer Milva, his partner in previous plays as well as in a four-year offstage relationship. Pistilli's most memorable roles were in Francesco Rosi's Illustrious Corpses (1976), Lino Del Fra's Antonio Gramsci: i giorni del carcere (1977), Carlo Lizzani's Italo-Bulgarian co-production The Bandit (1969) and Sergio Leone's For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), in which he played priest Pablo Ramirez, the brother of Eli Wallach's character Tuco. He also worked frequently in TV, including the Mafia series La piovra (1984), directed by Luigi Perelli.

Sergio Fantoni was born on 7 August 1930 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was an actor, known for Esther and the King (1960), Von Ryan's Express (1965) and Once Upon a Time in America (1984). He was married to Valentina Fortunato. He died on 17 April 2020 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

Strikingly busty, adorable and voluptuous brunette knockout Mary Collinson was born on July 22, 1952 in Malta. She's the identical twin sister of Madeleine Collinson. The Collinson twins arrived in Britain in April, 1969. Noted British glamour photographer Harrison Marks cast the duo as saucy maids in his 8mm short "Halfway Inn." Mary and Madeleine were the Playmates of the Month in the October, 1970 issue of "Playboy;" they have the distinction of being the first pair of identical twins to pose for a nude pictorial in "Playboy." The Collinson sisters went on to act in a handful of movies together; they were especially effective and memorable as the titular radically contrasting siblings in the typically fine Hammer vampire horror outing "Twins of Evil." .

Walter Chiari was born on 8 March 1924 in Verona, Veneto, Italy. He was an actor and writer, known for Romance (1986), Vanità (1947) and The Little Hut (1957). He was married to Alida Chelli. He died on 20 December 1991 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

Jackie Basehart was born on 11 October 1951 in Santa Monica, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Black Corsair (1976), The Inglorious Bastards (1978) and Tea with Mussolini (1999). He was married to Tatiana Basehart. He died on 20 May 2015 in Milan, Italy.

Giuseppe Verdi was born Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi on October 10, 1813, in Le Roncole di Busseto, Parma, Italy. His parents were landowners and innkeepers. Young Verdi received his first organ lessons at the age of 7. He studied composition privately with Ferdinando Provesi in Busseto. At age 20 he moved to Milan to continue his studies, but the Conservatory of Music rejected him. Verdi took private lessons and associated with Milan's cultural milieu in his pursuit of a musical career. He was patronized by Antonio Barezzi, a merchant, whose daughter, Margherita, was Verdi's student and later became his wife.

His first opera, Oberto (1839), was a successful production by Milan's Theatro La Scala. While Verdi continued working on his second opera, his wife and two children died. The second opera failed, and he suffered a depression and vowed to quit musical career. La Scala impresario, Merelli, persuaded him to write a third opera. Nabucco (1842) made Verdi famous. He followed the Bel Canto style of Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini. Verdi's best operas were based on plays by Victor Hugo, such as 'Ernani' (1844) and 'Rigoletto' (1851). In 1853 Verdi 's masterpiece 'La Traviata' was produced in Venice. It was based on 'The Lady of the Camelias', a play by Alexandre Dumas, fils. At that time Verdi became familiar with the music of Russian composer Mikhail Glinka who was popularized in Europe by Franz Liszt. The music of Mikhail Glinka had certain influence on Verdi's later operas.

In 1861 Verdi wrote 'La forza del destino' commissioned by the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, upon the recommendations by Aleksandr Borodin. It was performed with great success in 1862, and became part of a standard operatic repertoire ever since. His grand-opera 'Aida' (1871) was premiered in Cairo as part of the celebrations of the opening of the Suez Canal, and became an instant success. In his later operas Verdi turned from the style of Bel Canto to more expressive music and orchestration, like in 'Otello' (1887), based on the eponymous play by Shakespeare. Verdi's last and musically most brilliant, rich and expressive opera, 'Falstaff' (1893), was based on the Shakespeare's play "The Merry Wives of Windsor" in the adaptation of Victor Hugo.

Verdi's musical success coincided with the political events of Italian unification during the Austrian occupation. The 'Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves' from his opera 'Nabucco' (1842), became a popular song among supporters of Italian unification. Many of his opera performances were used by the supporters of Victor Emmanuel to shout "Viva Verdi" as a code name for a secret unification message. The name Verdi was used as acronym for "Vittorio Emanuele Re D'Italia" - Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy. Such a code enabled clandestine partisans of Victor Emmanuel, then the King of Sardinia, to gain more supporters in Milan which eventually led to the unification of Italy. Verdi was aware that his popular operas and his name was used as a political tool. Austrian censorship was powerless.

In 1861 Victor Emmanuel became the King of Italy in Turin. From 1861-1865 Giuseppe Verdi was elected representative of Busseto in the newly formed Italian parliament. After Garibaldi's military campaign the capital was moved to Florence, then to Rome, and Verdi returned from politics to music. He lived in Milan during the last years of his life. He was revered and honoured all over the world, and was much visited by his admirers. He died on January 27, 1901, in Milan, and was laid to rest at the Casa di Riposo, a retirement home for elderly musicians that was established by Verdi himself.

Verdi's music was used in hundreds of film scores. His operas has been the staples of operatic repertoire. His canzonas "La donna è mobile" from opera 'Rigoletto' (1851) and "Libiamo ne'lieti calici" (Drinking song) from 'La Traviata' (1853) has been popular concert numbers in performances by the three tenors: Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras.

He is a professor of semiotics, the study of communication through signs and symbols, at the University of Bologna. Also a philiosopher, a historian, literary critic, and an aesthetician. He is an avid book collector and owns more than 30,000 volumes. The subjects of his scholarly investigations range from St. Thomas Aquinas, to James Joyce, to Superman. He lives in Milan.

Riccardo Garrone was born on 1 November 1926 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was an actor and writer, known for La Dolce Vita (1960), La cena (1998) and La mafia mi fa un baffo (1974). He died on 14 March 2016 in Milan, Italy.

Billy Bastiani was born on 13 November 1952 in the USA. He was an actor, known for Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), Trouble Bound (1993) and Beyond Desire (1995). He died on 14 September 2018 in Milan, New York, USA.

Vittorio Mezzogiorno was born on 16 December 1941 in Cercola, Campania, Italy. He was an actor, known for Scream of Stone (1991), La piovra (1984) and Il giocattolo (1979). He was married to Cecilia Sacchi. He died on 7 January 1994 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

Sandra Ravel was born on 16 January 1910 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. She was an actress, known for Those Three French Girls (1930), The Single Sin (1931) and The Distant Voice (1933). She was married to Maurizio D'Ancora. She died on 13 August 1954 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

Margareta von Krauss was born in 1946 in Bucharest, Romania. She was an actress, known for The Spider Labyrinth (1988), Il tredicesimo uomo (2008) and Guarda il cielo: Stella, Sonia, Silvia (2000). She died on 22 April 2009 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

Stefano Mingardo was born on 21 June 1959 in Milan, Italy. He was an actor, known for Atlantis Interceptors (1983), Blastfighter (1984) and Bomber (1982). He died on 9 November 2014 in Milan, Italy.

Silvio Berlusconi was born on 29 September 1936 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He was a producer, known for Mediterraneo (1991), Man Trouble (1992) and Folks! (1992). He was married to Veronica Lario and Carla Elvira Lucia Dall'Oglio. He died on 12 June 2023 in Milan, Italy.

Licia Pinelli was born on 5 January 1928 in Senigallia, Marche, Italy. She was married to Giuseppe Pinelli. She died on 11 November 2024 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

Carlo Bonomi was born on 12 March 1937 in Milan, Italy. He was an actor, known for Pingu (1980), Il signor Rossi cerca la felicità (1976) and M.U.G.E.N (1999). He died on 6 August 2022 in Milan, Italy.

Sandro Panseri was born in 1945 in Bergamo, Lombardia, Italy. He was an actor, known for Il posto (1961), Dal sabato al lunedì (1962) and Made in Italy (1965). He was married to Marie Claire Le Masson. He died on 11 April 2023 in Milan, Lombardia, Italy.

Dario Fo was born on 24 March 1926 in Sangiano, Lombardy, Italy. He was a writer and actor, known for It Happened in Rome (1957), Lo svitato (1956) and The Betrothed (1989). He was married to Franca Rame. He died on 13 October 2016 in Milan, Italy.

Pina Menichelli was born on 10 January 1890 in Castroreale, Sicily, Italy. She was an actress, known for La dama de Chez Maxim's (1923), Il fuoco (la favilla - la vampa - la cenere) (1916) and The Rival Actresses (1913). She died on 29 August 1984 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

Lino Robi was born on 27 March 1931 in Milan, Italy. He was an actor, known for Gamma (1975), Neapolitan Carousel (1954) and Ci troviamo in galleria (1953). He died on 19 January 1991 in Milan, Italy.

Maria Cumani Quasimodo was born on 20 May 1908 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. She was an actress, known for She (1984), Turn the Other Cheek (1974) and Il tempo dell'inizio (1974). She was married to Salvatore Quasimodo. She died on 22 November 1995 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.