Lino Banfi

Italian actor, born 11 July 1936 in Andria, Barletta-Andria-Trani, Puglia, Italy. Lino Banfi's career can be said to begin at eighteen, in 1954, at the height of the post-war period and above all of the internal migrations to the industrial triangle (Milan, Turin and Genoa), he emigrated to Milan to attempt adventure in the theater of variety. Right here, after entering the company of Arturo Vetrani, he began his career as a comedian, bringing on stage typical elements of his country: sayings, idioms, games. As he will continue to do later in his career, he entrusted the resources of his impetuous and immediate comedy to his Canosine dialect, as well as to his funny and original speech. He chose as the first pseudonym Lino Zaga, from the abbreviations of the name (from Pasqualino) and the surname, but he was pushed to change that surname on the advice of Totò, who in his opinion believed that in the world of entertainment it brought luck to shorten the names, but instead brought bad luck shortening the surnames. In the following years he got his first successes by making his debut on TV on Rai 2 in 1969 at Renzo Arbore's Speciale per voi and with the cabaret at the Sancarlino together with Carletto Sposito and Anna Mazzamauro in 1972, then continuing with Enrico Montesano and Lando Fiorini. The meeting with Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia was crucial for his artistic affirmation.