Ettore Manni(1927-1979)
- Actor
Dark, rugged and exceedingly good-looking, Italian actor Ettore Manni
was a familiar presence in Neopolitan romancers and costumers. He also
gave added stature to a number of peplum films and spaghetti westerns
of the 1960s. On screen from 1952, he appeared in over 100 films in his
close to three-decade career. Popular in his native country, he played
opposite Italy's most scintillating leading ladies in his early movies
-- Sophia Loren,
Eleonora Rossi Drago and
Gianna Maria Canale, to name a few,
often playing the continental lover.
Manni was born on May 6, 1927, in Rome, Italy, and came to films in
1952 with
La tratta delle bianche (1952)
[Frustrations] starring Rossi-Drago in which he was third billed. In
1952 and 1953 he was handed prime leads and supports in the
Carlo Ponti/Dino De Laurentiis
productions of I tre corsari (1952)
[The Three Pirates],
Fratelli d'Italia (1952),
The Devil Is a Woman (1953) and
The Ship of Damned Women (1953)
the last two co-starring Kerima and
May Britt. Ponti also paired Manni opposite
his sultry-eyed wife Sophia Loren in
Two Nights with Cleopatra (1954)
playing Marc Antony to Loren's Cleopatra.
Other strong roles followed for Manni. He played the brother of
Anthony Quinn's
Attila (1954), and was reunited with
Rossi-Drago in both Donne sole (1956)
and The Girlfriends (1955), as well as with
both Kerima and
May Britt in
Fatal Desire (1953).
The quality of Manni's films declined into the late 50s and 60s but he
found himself quite busy in such lowbudget fare as
The Warrior and the Slave Girl (1958),
The Pirate of the Black Hawk (1958)
and
Diez fusiles esperan (1959).
He also appeared opposite lovely
Linda Cristal's Cleopatra in
Legions of the Nile (1959)
and the equally fetching Debra Paget as
Daughter of Cleopatra (1960).
Sword-and-sandal spectacles became the rage during this time and Manni
took full advantage with supporting roles in
Hercules and the Captive Women (1961)
starring Reg Park as the muscular titan,
Hercules and the Masked Rider (1963),
Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (1964)
and Giants of Rome (1964)
with Richard Harrison as the
muscled hero. Manni also jumped on the "spaghetti western" bandwagon
years later with appearances in the films
Ringo and His Golden Pistol (1966),
Fort Yuma Gold (1966),
The Stranger Returns (1967),
Johnny Colt (1966),
Ed ora... raccomanda l'anima a Dio! (1968),
I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death (1969)
and
Inginocchiati straniero... I cadaveri non fanno ombra! (1970).
Outside of Italy, Manni, who grew stockier in later years, could be
found playing priests and officer parts. He appeared as Jason in a
couple of the popular French "Angelique" series with
Untamable Angelique (1967)
and
Angelique and the Sultan (1968).
Manni also lent support to a number of imported American/British male
leads past their prime who found headlining work in Italy. These
included The Valiant (1962) starring
John Mills,
Attack of the Normans (1962) starring
Cameron Mitchell,
Gold for the Caesars (1963) starring
Jeffrey Hunter;
War of the Zombies (1964) starring
John Drew Barrymore,
The Battle of El Alamein (1969)
with Frederick Stafford, and
in Incontro d'amore (1970) with
John Steiner. A supreme showcase
role came his way during this period when he appeared opposite
Jeanne Moreau in
Mademoiselle (1966).
In the early 1970s, Manni met gorgeous Austrian-born actress
Krista Nell, who had leads and second leads
in French and Italian films. Although they did not marry, they became
longtime companions. They showed up together in the films
Django and Sartana Are Coming... It's the End (1970)
Les libertines (1970)
and
Karzan, il favoloso uomo della jungla (1972).
Sadly, Nell was diagnosed with leukemia and lost her battle against the
disease in Rome in 1975. She was only 28.
The grief-stricken Manni suffered from chronic depression following her
death but continued to work in Italy, appearing in
Risking (1976),
Oh, Serafina! (1976),
The Rip-Off (1977),
Silver Saddle (1978),
Il malato immaginario (1979),
La verdad sobre el caso Savolta (1980),
along with many TV projects.
Much now has been said over the controversy of the actor's untimely
death on July 27, 1979 in Rome. It was originally believed that the
52-year-old Manni, an avid gun collector, accidentally shot himself in
the groin while cleaning or handling a gun. It is now believed he
committed suicide. His final film,
Federico Fellini's
City of Women (1980)
in which he supported
Marcello Mastroianni, was released
posthumously.
was a familiar presence in Neopolitan romancers and costumers. He also
gave added stature to a number of peplum films and spaghetti westerns
of the 1960s. On screen from 1952, he appeared in over 100 films in his
close to three-decade career. Popular in his native country, he played
opposite Italy's most scintillating leading ladies in his early movies
-- Sophia Loren,
Eleonora Rossi Drago and
Gianna Maria Canale, to name a few,
often playing the continental lover.
Manni was born on May 6, 1927, in Rome, Italy, and came to films in
1952 with
La tratta delle bianche (1952)
[Frustrations] starring Rossi-Drago in which he was third billed. In
1952 and 1953 he was handed prime leads and supports in the
Carlo Ponti/Dino De Laurentiis
productions of I tre corsari (1952)
[The Three Pirates],
Fratelli d'Italia (1952),
The Devil Is a Woman (1953) and
The Ship of Damned Women (1953)
the last two co-starring Kerima and
May Britt. Ponti also paired Manni opposite
his sultry-eyed wife Sophia Loren in
Two Nights with Cleopatra (1954)
playing Marc Antony to Loren's Cleopatra.
Other strong roles followed for Manni. He played the brother of
Anthony Quinn's
Attila (1954), and was reunited with
Rossi-Drago in both Donne sole (1956)
and The Girlfriends (1955), as well as with
both Kerima and
May Britt in
Fatal Desire (1953).
The quality of Manni's films declined into the late 50s and 60s but he
found himself quite busy in such lowbudget fare as
The Warrior and the Slave Girl (1958),
The Pirate of the Black Hawk (1958)
and
Diez fusiles esperan (1959).
He also appeared opposite lovely
Linda Cristal's Cleopatra in
Legions of the Nile (1959)
and the equally fetching Debra Paget as
Daughter of Cleopatra (1960).
Sword-and-sandal spectacles became the rage during this time and Manni
took full advantage with supporting roles in
Hercules and the Captive Women (1961)
starring Reg Park as the muscular titan,
Hercules and the Masked Rider (1963),
Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (1964)
and Giants of Rome (1964)
with Richard Harrison as the
muscled hero. Manni also jumped on the "spaghetti western" bandwagon
years later with appearances in the films
Ringo and His Golden Pistol (1966),
Fort Yuma Gold (1966),
The Stranger Returns (1967),
Johnny Colt (1966),
Ed ora... raccomanda l'anima a Dio! (1968),
I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death (1969)
and
Inginocchiati straniero... I cadaveri non fanno ombra! (1970).
Outside of Italy, Manni, who grew stockier in later years, could be
found playing priests and officer parts. He appeared as Jason in a
couple of the popular French "Angelique" series with
Untamable Angelique (1967)
and
Angelique and the Sultan (1968).
Manni also lent support to a number of imported American/British male
leads past their prime who found headlining work in Italy. These
included The Valiant (1962) starring
John Mills,
Attack of the Normans (1962) starring
Cameron Mitchell,
Gold for the Caesars (1963) starring
Jeffrey Hunter;
War of the Zombies (1964) starring
John Drew Barrymore,
The Battle of El Alamein (1969)
with Frederick Stafford, and
in Incontro d'amore (1970) with
John Steiner. A supreme showcase
role came his way during this period when he appeared opposite
Jeanne Moreau in
Mademoiselle (1966).
In the early 1970s, Manni met gorgeous Austrian-born actress
Krista Nell, who had leads and second leads
in French and Italian films. Although they did not marry, they became
longtime companions. They showed up together in the films
Django and Sartana Are Coming... It's the End (1970)
Les libertines (1970)
and
Karzan, il favoloso uomo della jungla (1972).
Sadly, Nell was diagnosed with leukemia and lost her battle against the
disease in Rome in 1975. She was only 28.
The grief-stricken Manni suffered from chronic depression following her
death but continued to work in Italy, appearing in
Risking (1976),
Oh, Serafina! (1976),
The Rip-Off (1977),
Silver Saddle (1978),
Il malato immaginario (1979),
La verdad sobre el caso Savolta (1980),
along with many TV projects.
Much now has been said over the controversy of the actor's untimely
death on July 27, 1979 in Rome. It was originally believed that the
52-year-old Manni, an avid gun collector, accidentally shot himself in
the groin while cleaning or handling a gun. It is now believed he
committed suicide. His final film,
Federico Fellini's
City of Women (1980)
in which he supported
Marcello Mastroianni, was released
posthumously.