Mario Lanfranchi

Mario Lanfranchi
Lanfranchi in 1968
Born(1927-06-30)30 June 1927
Parma, Italy
Died3 January 2022(2022-01-03) (aged 94)
Langhirano, Italy
Occupation(s)Film and theatre director, screenwriter and television producer
Years active1952–2021
Known forLa traviata (1968)
Death Sentence (1968)
SpouseAnna Moffo (1957–1974 div.)

Mario Lanfranchi (30 June 1927 – 3 January 2022) was an Italian film, theatre, and television director, screenwriter, producer, collector, and actor.

Career[edit]

Lanfranchi was born in Parma. After receiving a degree at the Drama Academy (Accademia dei Filodrammatici) of Milan in the early 1950s, he was hired by Sergio Pugliese at RAI, at the onset of Italian television. He was the first to bring opera to the small screen, in 1956, with Madama Butterfly, by Giacomo Puccini, which introduced to a wide public Anna Moffo, at that time an unknown American soprano, who became his wife for 17 years. In 1967 he began his career as a film director with the western movie Death Sentence. He lived in a 16th-century villa in Santa Maria del Piano outside Parma (Villa Lanfranchi [it]).

Lanfranchi died in Langhirano, near Parma, on 3 January 2022, at the age of 94.[1]

Opera TV productions and films[edit]

Other interests[edit]

Lanfranchi was a well-known owner of greyhounds, owning the prefix 'El'.[2] He owned several significant greyhounds including the UK open race win record holder El Tenor.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "E' morto Mario Lanfranchi: multitalentuoso e giramondo regista che portò la lirica in tv". www.gazzettadiparma.it (in Italian). Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Remember When October". Greyhound Star. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  3. ^ "El Tenor". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. Retrieved 6 March 2024.

External links[edit]