Mike Bongiorno

Michael Nicholas Salvatore Bongiorno (Italian: [bɔnˈdʒorno, - bonˈ-]; May 26, 1924 – September 8, 2009) was an American Italian television presenter. After a few experiences in the U.S., he started working on RAI in the 1950s and was considered to be the most popular host in Italy. He was also known by the nickname il Re del Quiz ('The Quiz King'), and the peculiarity of starting all his shows with his trademark greeting: Allegria! ('Cheers!', 'Joy!').

Early years

Bongiorno was born in New York City to parents of Italian descent. He moved to Turin (his mother's native city), when he was young. His father was a Sicilian-American lawyer. During World War II, he abandoned his studies and joined a group of Italian partisans. He was captured and spent seven months in the San Vittore Prison in Milan and was then deported to a German concentration camp. He was liberated before the end of the war due to an exchange of war prisoners between the United States and Germany. He returned to New York and in 1946 started work at the radio headquarters of Il Progresso Italo-Americano ("The Italian American Progress") newspaper.

Career

Bongiorno returned to Italy in 1953. He appeared on the first day of official public TV transmissions in Italy with Arrivi e partenze ('Arrivals and Departures') on the TV channel RAI. From 1955 to 1959, he hosted the quiz show Lascia o raddoppia? ('Leave it or double it?'), the Italian version of U.S.'s The $64,000 Question. Another program was Campanile Sera ('Bell Tower Evening', 1959–1962), in which southern and northern Italian towns challenged each other with questions, and practical games played by citizens in the same towns.