Lino Banfi

Lino Banfi (born Pasquale Zagaria; 9 July 1936) is an Italian actor and screenwriter. Since 1960 he has appeared in more than 100 films. Banfi was born in the Apulian city of Andria, and at the age of three he moved to Canosa di Puglia. He started his career as a local singer and as a fotoromanzi actor. In 1954, determined to realize his aspiration to be an actor, he moved to Milan, where he encountered great economic and work difficulties, before moving to Rome in 1957, where he eventually started his professional stage career. Initially performing as Lino Zaga, he was part of numerous avanspettacolo companies, including those led by Alberto Sorrentino and Beniamino Maggio. Banfi made his film debut playing a minor role in Lucio Fulci's Howlers in the Dock. On the set of Fulci's Two Escape from Sing Sing he befriended the comedy duo Franco and Ciccio, and for several years he became a regular character actor in their films. In 1968, he embraced stand-up comedy, replacing Enrico Montesano at the Lando Fiorini's cabaret club Puff. Lino Banfi became one of the most well-known actors in Italian "sexy comedies" in the 1970s. In the 1980s he reached the peak of his fame by appearing in movies such as L'allenatore nel pallone, Vieni avanti cretino, Il commissario Lo Gatto and Occhio, malocchio, prezzemolo e finocchio; he later portrayed Grandpa Libero in the Italian TV series Un medico in famiglia. During his career, nearly all of Lino Banfi's characters spoke with the distinctive pronunciation of the Bari dialect. Banfi and his wife Lucia Lagrasta were married since 1962 until her death in February 2023; they have two children: Walter and Rosanna, who is also an actress. In 2000, Lino Banfi became a Goodwill ambassador for the Italian National Committee for UNICEF.