Tomas Milian (born Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa;[1] 3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor and singer with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and humor he brought to starring roles in Europeangenre films.
Following a decline in the popularity of Spaghetti Westerns, Milian transitioned to roles in poliziottesco films. After receiving acclaim for his performance as a psychotic killer in Almost Human (1974), he made appearances in Emergency Squad (1974), The Tough Ones (1976) and The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist (1977). After returning to the United States in 1985, Milian continued to perform supporting roles in film productions, including JFK (1991), Amistad (1997), Traffic (2000) and The Lost City (2005).[3]
Biography
Milian was born in Havana as the son of a Cuban general. His father was arrested, jailed, and later committed suicide on December 31, 1946. Milián then decided to leave Cuba and pursue his wishes of being an actor.[4] He settled in the United States to study at New York's Actors Studio[5] and later became an American citizen. In 1969, he became a naturalized Italian citizen.[4]
Career
After starting a career in the United States, Milian went to Italy in 1958 to take part in a theatre festival in Spoleto.[6] He eventually decided to relocate to Italy, where he lived for over 25 years, becoming a very successful performer. His first film part in Italy was in the 1959 picture La notte brava. Although his voice was usually dubbed due to his accent, Milián performed his lines in Italian (or in English, depending on the film). He initially starred in arthouse movies and worked with directors such as Mauro Bolognini and Luchino Visconti.[4]
He later turned to comedy, playing the recurrent characters of petty thief Monnezza and Serpico-like police officer Nico Giraldi in a variety of crime-comedy pictures. Although his voice was dubbed most of the time by Ferruccio Amendola, Milián wrote his own lines in Roman slang. Milián's inventive use of romanesco (Roman dialect) made him a cult performer in Italy. Bruno Corbucci, the director of many of these films commented, "At the cinemas as soon as Tomás Milián appeared on the screen, when he made a wisecrack and in the heaviest situations, then it was a pandemonium, it was like being at the stadium."[citation needed] As Milián used similar makeups and accents in portraying both characters, Monnezza and Nico were occasionally confused by Italian audiences, who sometimes referred erroneously to them both as Monnezza, or Er Monnezza (Da trash in Roman slang ), and still closely associate Milián with these performances.[9]
Milian was found dead from a stroke at his home in Miami on 22 March 2017.[12][13]
On October 11, 2017 he received the Leone in Memoriam award at the 7º Almería Western Film Festival.[14] It was picked up by his friend Luis Santeiro.[15]
^ a b c"Tomas Milian biography". Virgilio (in Italian). Archived from the original on August 10, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
^Frignani, Rinaldo (December 21, 2009). "Tomas Milian ancora sbirro. Per fiction". Corriere della sera (in Italian). Roma: RCS Quotidiani Spa. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
^"Tomas Milian biography". Yahoo! Movies (in Italian). Yahoo!. 2006. Archived from the original on October 21, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
^Gomarasca, Manlio (July 23, 2009). "Tomás Milián: Un'Avventurosa Storia Nei Generi (1)". Nocturno (in Italian). Archived from the original on October 7, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
^Martínez, Alejandro (July 26, 2009). "Tomas Milian orgullo de los cubanos en Miami". Cuba en Miami (in Spanish). Retrieved July 4, 2018.
^""Er Monnezza" finisce sulla Treccani". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Roma: RCS Quotidiani Spa. October 6, 2004. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
^Canby, Vincent (September 30, 1982). "ANTONIONI'S MYSTERY 'IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN'". The New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
^"Addio a 'Er monnezza': è morto a Miami Tomas Milian". Giornale di Sicilia. March 23, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
^Ugolini, Chiarla (March 23, 2017). "E' morto Tomas Milian, attore cubano rinato Er Monnezza". La Repubblica. GEDI Gruppo Editoriale S.p.A. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
^Europa Press (October 12, 2017). "Almería Western Film Festival concede el premio 'Leone in Memoriam' a Tomás Milian". Ideal (in Spanish). Retrieved January 1, 2018.
^"Almería Western Film Festival concede el premio 'Leone in Memoriam' a Tomás Milian". Almeria Western Film Festival (in Spanish). October 11, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
Further reading
Giorgio Navarro, Fabio Zanello, Tomas Milian. Er cubbano de Roma, Molino, 1999; ISBN 8890035935.
Max Serio, Tomas Milian: The Tough Bandit, the Rough Cop and the Filthy Rat in Italian Cinema, Mediane, 2009; ISBN 8896042127.
Gordiano Lupi, Tomas Milian, il trucido e lo sbirro, Profondo Rosso Editore, 2011; ISBN 8889084502.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tomas Milian.
Tomás Milián official site (in Italian)
Tomás Milián at IMDb
Tomás Milián interview (in Italian)
Tomas Milian in The Designated Victim – TCM's Movie Morlocks