Italian actor with more than 160 credits to his name across film, television and stage. His career was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s.
A prominent figure in Italian cinema from the 1950s, Ferzetti’s first leading role came in 1950 in the film “Lo Zappatore.” He portrayed Puccini in two films: “Puccini” (1953) and “Casa Ricordi” (1954). Ferzetti made his international breakthrough in 1960 in his most acclaimed role as an oversexed, restless playboy in Michelangelo Antonioni’s controversial “L’Avventura.” After a series of romantic performances, he acquired a reputation in Italy as an elegant, debonair and somewhat aristocratic looking leading man.
In 1966, Ferzetti starred as Lot in John Huston’s biblical epic, “The Bible: In the Beginning….” In 1968, he played railroad baron Morton in Sergio Leone’s celebrated “Once Upon a Time in the West.” A year later, he appeared in the James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” as Marc Ange Draco, perhaps his best known role internationally, though his voice was dubbed by British actor David de Keyser. He is perhaps best known to non-mainstream audiences for his role as the psychiatrist, Hans, in Liliana Cavani’s arthouse classic “The Night Porter” (1974). In the 1970s he appeared in a significant number of crime films, often as an inspector. He also appeared in “Julia and Julia,” opposite Laurence Olivier in “Inchon” (1982) and in the cult film “First Action Hero.” More recently he played the role of Nono in the TV series “Une famille formidable” and appeared in Luca Guadagnino’s 2009 film “I Am Love.”
Ferzetti died on 2 December 2015, aged 90.
Link to Wikipedia biography