Christian De Sica

Christian De Sica (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkristjan de ˈsiːka]; born 5 January 1951) is an Italian actor, comedian, television presenter, and filmmaker.

Life

De Sica was born in Rome, the second son of Italian director Vittorio De Sica and Spanish actress María Mercader. His first cousin once removed was Ramón Mercader, the murderer of Leon Trotsky. After attending Liceo classico in Rome, where he had Carlo Verdone as his deskmate, De Sica worked in a hotel in Venezuela, where he began his career as an artist. He enrolled in Lettere (Literature and Arts) at La Sapienza university (1970) but did not graduate.

He was attracted to music, and participated in the Sanremo Music Festival 1973 singing "Mondo mio" ("My World"). However, the results convinced him to follow in his father's footsteps and devote himself to acting. De Sica developed his own style of comedy and entertainment also in Rai television shows, such as Bambole, non c'è una lira, which gave him a large success in 1978.

Acting career

With his father's help, De Sica was able to take his first steps in the movie world with such teachers and mentors as Roberto Rossellini (Blaise Pascal, 1971), Vittorio De Sica himself (A Brief Vacation, 1973), Pupi Avati (House of Pleasure for Women, 1976) and Salvatore Samperi (1979 Liquirizia and 1981 Chaste and Pure).

He married Silvia Verdone, sister of Carlo, with whom he had two children, Brando and Mariarosa. He achieved fame in the 1980s: in 1982 Borotalco was released, together with his brother-in-law Verdone, then he filmed Sapore di Mare with Jerry Calà as well as Yuppies, Yuppies 2, Grandi Magazzini and Compagni di Scuola.