Gigi Ballista

Gigi Ballista

Birth : 1918-12-01, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Death : 1980-08-02

History

Gigi Ballista (1 December 1918 – 2 August 1980) was an Italian film and television actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1961 and 1980. Born in Florence, Ballista graduated in Law, then he started working as a PR consultant in the field of advertising and industrial documentaries. He debuted as an actor at a mature age in the early 1960s with some minor roles, but his breakout came in 1966 with a role of weight in Pietro Germi's The Birds, the Bees and the Italians. Following the critical and commercial success of the film, Ballista decided to pursue a professional career as an actor, and he became, mainly thanks to his characteristic hoarse and dysphonic voice, one of the most recognizable character actors in Italian cinema and television. Description above from the Wikipedia article Gigi Ballista, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Profile

Gigi Ballista

Movies

L'assistente sociale tutto pepe
Bishop
Nadia is a social worker who is trying to keep the residents of a local slum in line. Unfortunately she keeps neglecting her work and fantasizing about a life as a pop-star. When she falls for one of the residents in question, a small time crook called Bel Ami, she ends up an accomplice in a convoluted heist involving a holy Catholic relic.
I Hate Blondes
Psychiatrist
There are two problems with Emilio and his career as a pulp writer. Emilio is a bumbling fellow who has absolutely nothing in common with the heroes he writes about. Second, Emilio can't seem to publish anything under his own name.
Liquirizia
Bartolozzi
Two groups of students - the third-class high school students and the matured accountants - decide to perform a show to celebrate the last day of school.
Midnight Express
Chief Judge
Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. The Turkish courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".
The Schoolmate
Girardi
Lilli Carati plays a high school student being pursued by a very persistent young man in this Italian sex-comedy
Un amore targato Forlì
The young Rimini native Stefano Santi goes to Rome, with a letter of recommendation for the maestro Melchiorri, artistic director of the Opera House, to take part in a competition for cellists. While trying in vain to be received by Melchiorri, he met an unscrupulous girl, Giorgia Muller, an architectural student temporarily linked to a fellow student. Between one misfortune and another the cello smashes, a homosexual theater manager tries to enmesh him Stefano, who now has a precarious employment in a nightclub, yields to the allurements of Giorgia, ending up in his bed. The girl, however, is unfaithful to him, so that Stefano, disgusted with her, and having now lost all hope of participating in the competition,
Horse Fever
Count Dallara
Bruno Fioretti, known as "Mandrake", is an inveterate gambler who never misses a day at the horse racing track in Rome. He is doubly unlucky: he bets too much on one horse, and his wife is sleeping with his best friend because Mandrake is always at the track. Penniless and cuckolded, Mandrake decides to make one last bet.
Under the Sheets
Professor Ciotti
Three medical students who are reluctant to hit the books and unwilling to work are much more enthusiastic about creating pranks and targeting a thriving confidential, female doctor.
Salon Kitty
General
Kitty runs a brothel in Nazi Germany where the soldiers come to "relax". Recording devices have been installed in each room by a power hungry army official who plans to use the information to blackmail Hitler and gain power himself. A girl named Margherita discovers the little ploy and with Kitty's help plans to take on the dangerous task of exposing the conspiracy.
Confessions of a Lady Cop
Questore Moretti
Gianna Amicucci works in the house of the head of her hometown police force and enters the academy with a kickback from him. She is a beautiful woman (she generously sheds clothes during the film) and has to overcome her male colleagues prejudices, but she gains their respect through a series of brilliant operations.
La madama
The Venetian
In the slang of the underworld or "mala" there is a special term for cop: "Madama". But if word were to get around that the "Madama" is Vito (Christian De Sica) they might even start to like the guy. Vito is a funny sort of a cop. For a start he doesn't like the uniform (he never wears it). Things might even go smoothly for him, if it weren't for an incredible number of beautiful girls who always manage to get in his way. Especially one girl Angelo (shouldn't that have been Angela? No, the girl's name really is Angelo). Problems arise too, with his direct supervisor, who also happens to be a relative. But Vito puts up with it all and manages to stay his usual calm and polite self, even when he risks getting killed.
Cassiodorus is the Hardest Praetorian
Cornelius da Mediolanum
The adventures of the Etruscan Cassiodorus who, after having involuntarily captured a rebel, is named centurion and ingratiates himself with Nero. He tries to take advantage of his role to enrich himself with shady deals, but it goes wrong.
The Sunday Woman
Vollero
Police commissioner Santamaria is investigating the murder of the ambiguous architect Mr. Garrone. The investigations soon drive him into the Torino's high society. Santamaria suspect Anna Carla and at the same time falls in love for her. Lello is the lover of Massimo, Anna Carla’s gay friend. He is following another direction in order to find out the truth, and his results are confusing the Policeman. But another murder happens...
The Family Vice
Conte Giosuè
When Giacomo D'Amato is released from jail he is immediately employed by Magda, in a plot to secure her the heritage of the count. But there are other players in this game too, and Giacomo has his own agenda.
Il giustiziere di mezzogiorno
direttore Filiberto Rossetti
Franco is abandoned by his wife and daughter who wrongly accuse him of being a wimp. Besides he's bossed around and sexually harassed at work. He decides to take justice into his own hands and get rough with the world. He soon gets his family's respect back.
Mala, amore e morte
Carlo Alberto Giorgi
A woman is killed, and Femi Benussi appears to investigate. Her clothes fall off in almost every scene as with the help of a young handsome man she seeks a resolution to the mystery surrounding the murder, and the meaning of a block of wood with cryptical markings. Femi runs afoul of a bunch of idiotic gangsters, including a mob boss whose trademark is a red rose which he carries with him at all times. Some other girl is taking her clothes off a lot as well. Eventually they wind up in a weird sex club and then a graveyard.
La poliziotta
avvocato
A young policewoman discovers an ecological scandal and must face the corruption in the Milan Police department.
Poker in Bed
comm. Gervasio Caminata
A poker player on a losing streak meets a beautiful young woman. He's attracted to her, but she appears to be perfectly content with her boyfriend, a somewhat wussy writer. The gambler gets the idea that if he can get this woman into bed, it will change his luck at the gambling tables.
Italian Sex
padre di Carletto
A sexy graduate student is giving her thesis presentation, which creates quite a stir since it reveals that she has just posed as a prostitute for several months to do sociological research for her thesis. She relates various stories of her experiences to her salivating thesis committee and a large audience of curious on-lookers.
Fischia Il Sesso
Mr. Lewis
A girl from New York, Carol, to get married turns to the marriage agency of Mr. Lewis, who introduces her to Gavino, a young Sardinian immigrant clandestine.
Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia
Dottore
In Italy, a dying woman tells her granddaughter that she hid her treasure many years ago in Russia, in the city of Leningrad. Other people (who were around when she died) also learn about it. Thus several people arrive in Leningrad trying to find the treasure, each one for himself/herself. What's worse - the only information they have is that the treasure is under a lion - and it's in Leningrad, a city known by its numerous statues of lions. The story gets even more interesting when the soviet militia (police) learns about the whole thing and send an undercover agent...
Brigitte, Laura, Ursula, Monica, Raquel, Litz, Florinda, Barbara, Claudia, e Sofia le chiamo tutte... anima mia
The Lady Has Been Raped
Carini
Good bourgeois damage unintentionally life of a drug-party, during which the mistress of the house is raped without recognizing the aggressor. Both she and her husband come into crisis and try to figure out who it was. The truth comes to the surface slowly, and it is unexpected.
Blume in Love
Older Man
Lawyer Stephen Blume, specialized in divorces, lives a paradoxical situation when, having his own marriage break up, is still in love with his ex-wife.
Giovannona Long-Thigh
Commendatore La Noce
When a judge shuts down a high profile cheese factory for violating pollution standards, the owner bribes a monsignor to fix the problem. After they discover the judge has a predilection for married women, the owner employs a prostitute to pose as his wife in an attempt to seduce the judge.
Crescete e moltiplicatevi
Dottore
Italian comedy
Blessed Are the Rich
Commendatore
Two brothers-in-law, a smuggler and the other traffic policeman, get hold of a large sum of money, destined for illegal exportation to Switzerland, after the courier is killed in a fire fight with the border police. The owners of the money, which occupy an important social position, try in every way to recover it, also leveraging the weakness of the policeman. After the petty betrayal of his brother-in-law, the smuggler decides to keep all the money and flee to Switzerland.
Black Turin
Marinotti
Mino and Lello, two sons of a worker wrongly accused of murder, try to find out evidence of his innocence and begin to investigate mafia business in Torino.
House of 1000 Pleasures
Genie in Lamp
Italian sex comedy version of Arabian Nights
Snow Job
A famous skier, his mistress and a ski instructor rob a bank in the Alps and hide the loot in a crevasse.
Trastevere
Count
Trastevere is a 1971 Italian comedy film. This is the first and only film directed by actor and screenwriter Fausto Tozzi. The film was heavily cut by producer Alberto Grimaldi, who cut off the roles of Umberto Orsini, Martine Brochard and Riccardo Garrone.
Roma bene
Vitozzi
Nino Manfredi is a police captain, giving an onlooker's point-of-view towards the decadent society folk. Party itself features a down & out baron, who dances with the party's glamorous hostess Virna Lisi so that he can steal her valuable earrings. When they're missing, she's angry enough to call in the cops (Manfredi shows up) and have the baron taken away.
Non commettere atti impuri
Padre Spiridione
No One Will Notice You're Naked
Silvio Borelon
Rosario Trapanese is determined to show he is not the typical old-fashion Sicilian. When his firm sends him to Denmark, a more sexual liberated nation than Italy, he immediately adopts the Danish "free-sexual-taboo" way of life. He meets and married Karen and succeeded to come back in Italy. Once here, he discovers Karen did a porn movie and his determination on being open minded is over. The typical Sicilian jealousy drives him crazy. Anyway, after a while, Rosario understands that what his wife did before to meet him it has not to be an issue for him. Karen confesses Rosario she signed a contract for a second movie and she could refuse only by paying a fine. The couple doesn't have enough money so they need to find a solution. And what a solution!
Lady Caliph
Il principe industriale
La Califfa's husband was killed during the strikes so she takes the side of the strikers. Her conflict with the plant owner Doverdo gradually turns into a love relationship.
Kill the Fatted Calf and Roast It
Il medico
After many years of living abroad, a troubled young man returns home due to the death of his father (who he suspects was actually murdered). He attempts to untangle that mystery while still carrying an unhealthy obsession toward his mother, who committed suicide ten years ago. This obsession then draws in his attractive cousin and takes a sexual turn.
Una storia d'amore
Borgognini
A married woman falls in love with a playboy dedicated to blackmail, to avoid that reveal his unedifying past, abandons her.
The Secret of Santa Vittoria
Padre Polenta
During World War II, Italian villagers hide their wine from the German army.
Emma Hamilton
Cardinal Ruffo
The Making of a Lady: The Story of Lady Hamilton is a 1968 historical drama film directed by Christian-Jaque and starring Michèle Mercier, Richard Johnson and John Mills.[1] It was based on the novel La San-Felice by Alexandre Dumas and depicts the love affair between Emma Hamilton and Horatio Nelson. It was a co-production between Italy, West Germany, France and the United States.
Torture Me But Kill Me with Kisses
Engineer
When Marino goes to Rome for an event, he certainly does not imagine meeting Marisa, who will become the love of his life. But once love is found, it is a matter of spreading it and here the difficulties begin: first the father who opposes it; then, after the death of his father, the gossips who make Marino believe that Marisa was a little good, so much so that Marisa runs away. Repentant, Marino searches in vain and then, almost by accident, finds her again, Mrs. Ciceri. But love admits no obstacles, not even that of a deaf and dumb husband.
Galileo
commissario domenicano
A humble scientist from Padua proves that the Earth revolves and that it is not the center of the universe.
Sunstroke
One Sunday in summer a mixed crowd pours on to a beach near Rome. A few tourists who had hoped to spend a relaxing day, find themselves involved in a series of unpleasant experiences instead.
Il fischio al naso
medico
In this unusual offbeat black comedy directed by Ugo Tognazzi, Giuseppe (Tognazzi) is a middle-aged industrialist obsessed with gadgets. When his nose starts to whistle uncontrollably, he checks into a clinic to resolve the problem. What begins as a minor affliction worsens, and Giuseppe is placed on a different floor as his ailments multiply. The sicker he gets, the higher he goes up in the floors of the clinic, until he is near death's door.
The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia
Aldo
When an oily attorney dies at the hands of the mafia, a dedicated French detective investigates the man's murder. He soon uncovers a drug-smuggling operation and lets his sawed-off shotgun do the talking to the toughs in this Gallic gangster feature.
The Climax
Don Michele
A violin player is going to be father of a sixth child by his second mistress, Marisa. Quite nervous about that, he does not leave the clinic... except to drive Giulia, his legitimate wife, along with his legitimate kids to the station as they leave for a vacation at the seaside.
How I Learned to Love Women
sir Archibald
An erotic comedy about the many affairs of a young man with different women.
Pleasant Nights
Luca di Montemerlo
A trilogy of comedic tales set in the Middle Ages.
The Queens
The Priest
Four unrelated short comedies by four different directors. "Queen Sabina"chronicles the sexual misadventures of a teenage girl on the road home. "Queen Armenia" centers on a self-serving opportunistic gypsy babysitter who uses her employer's kids for her own gain. The third episode, "Queen Elena" centers on a husband who learns a lesson about the perils of infidelity after he succumbs to the wiles of the seductive wife next door. The last vignette, "Queen Marta" centers on a wealthy woman who, when drunk, uses her butler as an outlet for her lust.
The Birds, the Bees and the Italians
Giacinto Castellan
An anthology film that presents three storylines, all set in the Italian town of Treviso. In the first story, a husband pretends to be impotent as a cover for having an affair. In the second, a bank clerk abandons his wife for his mistress, but the rest of the town's husbands become jealous and unite to conspire against them. In the third, men of the town all seduce a promiscuous teenager, but her father eventually reveals that she is underage, and they face prosecution for statutory rape.
The Maniacs
Count at the Party (segment "l'hobby") (uncredited)
An anthology of brief comic sketches based on manias, mainly sexual, featuring several figures of Italian society.