LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Adolfo Celi
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Although not too well known outside his native Italy, white-haired, robust Adolfo Celi gained renown as a "renaissance" man of theater and films, doing triple duty as an actor, writer and director. His first film was 1946's Un Americano in Vacanza, after which he left Italy to spend nearly two decades working on the stage in Argentina and Brazil. He returned to films with the Brasilia-lensed That Man From Rio (1964), then achieved American fame as megavillain Largo in the 1965 James Bond flick Thunderball. Two years later, he appeared with Sean Connery's brother Neil in the Bond rip-off Operation Kid Brother (1967). Though he could speak several languages, Celi's accent was so pronounced that his voice was usually dubbed, never more noticeably than in the cult favorite King of Hearts (1966), in which he played a pompous British military officer. In addition to his acting credits, Adolfo Celi directed three South American films: Ciacara, Aliba, Tico Tico No Fuba.
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Adolfo Celi and Anthony Dawson (playing Thair Beta and Alpha respectively) lead evil organisation THANATOS, planning to take over the world by stopping all machines with a de-magnetic device. James Bond is not available and instead his brother Neil Connery (Secret Agent 00), persuaded by Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell, is enlisted. Daniela Bianchi, playing top THANATOS agent Maya, changes sides to help him.
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Born in Messina (Sicily), Celi appeared in nearly 100 movies, specializing in international villains. He most famous role was as Emilio Largo in the 1965 James Bond movie Thunderball. Celi later spoofed his Thunderball role in the film OK Connery (aka Operation Double 007) opposite Sean Connery's brother, Neil. He was ... appeared as a protagonist in some Italian comedies like Brancaleone alle Crociate. Another well-known role of his was as camp comandant Battaglia opposite Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard's Allied POWs in the 1965 World War II escape drama Von Ryan's Express.
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Synopsis: Lucio (Vittorio Gassman) and his sidekick (Adolfo Celi) accidently gets mixed up with a gang of international counterfeiters in this fast-moving and suspenseful comedy with music from Ennio Morricone. The crooks hope to upset the U.S. economy by flooding the world with bogus bills. Lucio is anRead More
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Celi was fluent in several languages, but his thick Sicilian accent meant that he was usually dubbed when appearing in an English language film. For example, Robert Rietti provided his voice in both Thunderball and That Man from Rio. However, in the BBC serial The Borgias (in which he played Rodrigo Borgia), made in 1981, Celi's accent was not dubbed,and his strong accent made much of his dialogue unintelligible and hard to follow, and it was heavily derided by TV critics and audiences alike at the time.
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Adolfo Celi movies DVDs filmography available to buy at CDUniverse are listed below. Information on films includes: other actor and actress, star cast and crew information, reviews, director, photo of cover art, product pics and more.
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