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Corrado Gaipa
Corrado Gaipa
	Gaipa in 1959
Born	13 March 1925; Palermo, Kingdom of Italy
Died	21 September 1989 (aged 64); Rome, Italy
Occupations	Actor; voice actor;
Years active	1946–1989

Corrado Gaipa (13 March 1925 – 21 September 1989) was an Italian actor and voice actor.^[1]

A well known actor of Italian cinema, he was internationally known for his role as Don Tommasino in The Godfather, while his popularity in Italy was also connected to his activity as a voice dubber.^[2]

Biography

Born in Palermo, Gaipa enrolled in the Silvio d'Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he studied for three years and performed an adaptation of the play You Can't Take It with You. He then graduated in 1946. In 1948, Gaipa joined a theatre group based in Rome and began acting in radio dramas which were broadcast in many cities across Italy such as Turin, Florence and Milan. He also appeared in many films, beginning with That Splendid November (1969).^[3] He became well known worldwide playing Don Tommasino in the 1972 film The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

While also active on stage, radio and television, he was heavily active as a voice actor and especially as a dubber: he provided the Italian voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi (portrayed by Alec Guinness) in the Star Wars original trilogy as well as Bagheera in the Italian-Language version of The Jungle Book. He also dubbed over the voices of Lionel Stander, Eli Wallach, Peter Ustinov, Rod Steiger, Orson Welles, Burt Lancaster and Spencer Tracy. Gaipa assisted with the foundation of a dubbing company in the 1970s alongside Renato Turi, Giancarlo Giannini, Valeria Valeri, Oreste Lionello and other historical Italian dubbers.^[4]

Illness and death

In Gaipa's later years, he developed serious health problems and went from using a walking stick to a wheelchair, ultimately dying in Rome on 21 September 1989, at the age of 64.^[5] At the time of his death, he had just signed to reprise the role of Don Tommasino in The Godfather Part III, which was instead passed on to Vittorio Duse.

Filmography

Cinema

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1969	That Splendid November	Alfio
1970	The Pizza Triangle	President of Tribunal
1970	Metello	Badolati	Also dubbing Frank Wolff's role
1971	The Man with Icy Eyes	Isaac Thetman
1971	The Fifth Cord	Andrea's Chief
1972	Shadows Unseen	Günther Rosenthal
	Execution Squad	Lawyer Armani
	The Sicilian Connection	Don Calogero
	Without Family	Judge
	The Eroticist	Don Gesualdo	Also dubbing Lionel Stander's role
	The Godfather	Don Tommasino	Sicilian sequence
	My Dear Killer	Head of Insurance Company
	The Pisciotta Case	Direttore del carcere
1973	1931: Once Upon a Time in New York	Mob Boss
	Giordano Bruno	Confessore di Giovanni Mocenigo
	The Boss	Avvocato Rizzo
	The Black Hand	Lawyer
	Chino	Padre
	I Kiss the Hand	Don Emilio Grisanti
	Tony Arzenta	Tony Arzenta’s father
	Secrets of a Call Girl	Doctor
1974	The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine	Father Honorio de Mendoza
	What Have They Done to Your Daughters?	Prosecutor
	Prigione di donne	Magistrate
1976	Illustrious Corpses	Supposed Mafioso
1977	The Red Nights of the Gestapo	Udo Kassbaum
	The Criminals Attack… The Police Respond!	Doctor
	Crazy Desires of a Murderer	Inspector
	A Spiral of Mist	Pietro San Germano

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	La rosa bianca	Kurt Huber	TV film
1971	Bernadette Devlin		TV film
1972	Le inchieste del commissario Maigret	Germain Cageot	1 episode
1973	Napoleone a Sant'Elena	Lord Liverpool	TV miniseries
1974	Ho incontrato un'ombra	Buache	TV miniseries
1975	Portrait of a Veiled Woman	Nebbia	TV miniseries
	Il marsigliese	Tanino Sciacca	TV miniseries
	L'invitto	Retana	TV film
1976	Dov'è Anna?	Loris	TV miniseries
1977	La mossa del cavallo	Il maestro	TV miniseries (Segment: "L'ultima notte")
1977	The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television	Don Tommasino	TV miniseries
1978	Storie della camorra	Onorevole Colajanni	TV miniseries
1979	La dama dei veleni	Guido Santacroce	TV miniseries
1980	L'eredità della priora	Don Vincenzo	TV miniseries
1980	Sam & Sally	Dr. Jesse	1 episode
1982	Il fascino dell'insolito	L'uomo dei manichini	1 episode
1982	Marco Polo	Senator	1 episode

Documentaries

Year	Title	Notes
1984	Giuseppe Fava: Siciliano come me

Voice work

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	West and Soda	Additional voices	Animated film
1968	VIP my Brother Superman	Colonel	Animated film
1978	Jazz Band^[6]	Narrator	Uncredited
1983	Help Me Dream
1983	A School Outing
1988	Sposi [it]^[1]

Dubbing

Films (Animation, Italian dub)

Year	Title	Role(s)	Ref
1967	The Jungle Book	Bagheera	^[7]
1967	Asterix the Gaul	Abraracourcix
1968	Asterix and Cleopatra	Obelix
1968	Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day	Owl
1970	The Aristocats	Scat Cat	^[8]

Films (Live action, Italian dub)

Year	Title	Role(s)	Original actor	Ref
1959	South Wind	Marquis Macri	Annibale Ninchi
1960	Everybody Go Home	Quintino Fornaciari	Martin Balsam
1963	The Leopard	Don Fabrizio Corbera	Burt Lancaster
1963	The Eye of the Needle	Don Salvatore	Ernesto Calindri
1966	Chimes at Midnight	John Falstaff	Orson Welles
1967	Operation St. Peter's	Joe Ventura	Edward G. Robinson
	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner	Matt Drayton	Spencer Tracy
	In the Heat of the Night	Bill Gillespie	Rod Steiger
	The Dirty Dozen	Archer J. Maggot	Telly Savalas
	Attack on the Iron Coast	Frederick Grafton	Maurice Denham
1968	The Shoes of the Fisherman	Cardinal Leone	Leo McKern
	House of Cards	Charles Leschenhaut	Orson Welles
	The Day of the Owl	Don Mariano Arena	Lee J. Cobb
	Never a Dull Moment	Leo Joseph Smooth	Edward G. Robinson
	Once Upon a Time in the West	Brett McBain	Frank Wolff
	The Ruthless Four	Sam Cooper	Van Heflin
	Krakatoa, East of Java	Harry Connerly	Brian Keith
	Blackbeard's Ghost	Captain Blackbeard	Peter Ustinov
	Hang 'Em High	Adam Fenton	Pat Hingle
	The Lion in Winter	Captain William Marshall	Nigel Stock
	2001: A Space Odyssey	Frank Poole's father	Alan Gifford
	Will Penny	Alex	Ben Johnson
	Chitty Chitty Bang Bang	Lord Scrumptious	James Robertson Justice
	Rosemary's Baby	Roman Castevet	Sidney Blackmer
	Pistol for a Hundred Coffins	J. Texas Corbett	Piero Lulli
	May God Forgive You... But I Won't	Stuart	Luigi Pavese
1969	Tepepa	Colonel Cascorro	Orson Welles
	The Big Bounce	Sam Mirakian	Van Heflin
	The Brain	Frankie Scannapieco	Eli Wallach
	The Secret of Santa Vittoria	Italo Bombolini	Anthony Quinn
	On Her Majesty's Secret Service	M	Bernard Lee
	Battle of Britain	Sir David Kelly	Ralph Richardson
	Fellini Satyricon	Trimalchio	Mario Romagnoli
	Simón Bolívar	Mr. Hernandez	Julio Peña
1970	Metello	Betto Lampredi	Frank Wolff
	When Women Had Tails	Grr	Frank Wolff
	The Kremlin Letter	Bresnavitch	Orson Welles
	Between Miracles	Oreste Micheli	Lionel Stander
	Too Late the Hero	Captain Hornsby	Denholm Elliott
	La Horse	Auguste Maroilleur	Jean Gabin
	The McMasters	McMasters	Burl Ives
	Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion	Plumber	Salvo Randone
1971	Ten Days' Wonder	Théo Van Horn	Orson Welles
	Lawman	Vincent Bronson	Lee J. Cobb
	Scandalous John	John McCanless	Brian Keith
	A Clockwork Orange	Tramp	Paul Farrell
	Bananas	Sanchez	David Ortiz
1972	The Eroticist	Cardinal Maravidi	Lionel Stander
	Don Camillo e i giovani d'oggi	Peppone	Lionel Stander
	Treasure Island	Long John Silver	Orson Welles
	Duck Soup	Ambassador Trentino of Sylvania (1972 dubbing)	Louis Calhern
	Roma	Roman Eating in Terrace	Mimmo Poli
		Music Hall Compere	Galliano Sbarra
		Trattoria Waiter	Nino Terzo
		Cinema Spectator with Family	Dante Cleri
1973	The Exorcist	William F. Kinderman	Lee J. Cobb
	The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing	Harvey Lapchance	Lee J. Cobb
	Soylent Green	Solomon Roth	Edward G. Robinson
	Scorpio	Sergei Zharkov	Paul Scofield
	Ludwig	Father Hoffmann	Gert Fröbe
	Amarcord	Aurelio Biondi	Armando Brancia
1974	The Sensual Man	Baron Castorini	Lionel Stander
1974	Innocence and Desire	Salvatore Niscemi	Lionel Stander
1975	Russian Roulette	Commander Petapiece	Denholm Elliott
	Barry Lyndon	Captain Grogan	Godfrey Quigley
	The Hindenburg	Emilio Pajetta	Burgess Meredith
	My Friends	Niccolò Righi	Bernard Blier
	Deep Red	Rodi	Furio Meniconi
	The Big Sleep	General Sternwood (1975 redub)	Charles Waldron
1976	The Omen	Carl Bugenhagen	Leo McKern
	The Inheritance	Gregorio Ferramonti	Anthony Quinn
	Dog's Heart	Police Chief	Enzo Robutti
1977	Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope	Obi-Wan Kenobi	Alec Guinness	^[9]
	The Greatest	Angelo Dundee	Ernest Borgnine
	The Deep	Adam Coffin	Eli Wallach
	Wifemistress	Head Doctor	Armando Brancia
	Julia	Dashiell Hammett	Jason Robards
1978	Damien - Omen II	Carl Bugenhagen	Leo McKern
1978	Convoy	Lyle "Cottonmouth" Wallace	Ernest Borgnine
1979	1941	Angelo Scioli	Lionel Stander
1980	Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back	Obi-Wan Kenobi	Alec Guinness	^[10]
1980	Private Benjamin	Colonel Clay Thornbush	Robert Webber
1981	Great White	Ron Hamer	Vic Morrow
1983	Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi	Obi-Wan Kenobi	Alec Guinness	^[11]
1983	Zeder	Professor Chesi	John Stacy
1986	Ginger and Fred	Admiral Aulenti	Friedrich von Ledebur
1987	Il mistero del panino assassino	Arno dei conti Vicini	Francisco Rabal
1989	New York Stories	Psychiatrist	Marvin Chatinover

References

^ ^a ^b "Corrado Gaipa's voice acting and dubbing contributions". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
^ "Corrado Gaipa - actor". italyonthisday.com. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
^ "Corrado Gaipa". MYmovies. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
^ Cronologia fondamentale dell'epoca d'oro del doppiaggio italiano Dagli albori agli anni 1970 (in Italian)
^ "E' morto Corrado Gaipa". La Repubblica. September 23, 1989. p. 37. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
^ "JAZZ BAND". cinematografo.it (in Italian).
^ "The Jungle Book Italian voice cast". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
^ "The Aristocats Italian voice cast". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
^ "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope Italian voice cast". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
^ "Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back Italian voice cast". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
^ "Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi Italian voice cast". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2024-08-15.

External links

Media related to Corrado Gaipa at Wikimedia Commons

Corrado Gaipa at IMDb
Corrado Gaipa at Behind The Voice Actors

[mondo-1] "Corrado Gaipa's voice acting and dubbing contributions". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 12 September 2018.

[2] "Corrado Gaipa - actor". italyonthisday.com. Retrieved 29 May 2019.

[3] "Corrado Gaipa". MYmovies. Retrieved 29 May 2019.

[4] Cronologia fondamentale dell'epoca d'oro del doppiaggio italiano Dagli albori agli anni 1970 (in Italian)

[la_re-5] "E' morto Corrado Gaipa". La Repubblica. September 23, 1989. p. 37. Retrieved 20 December 2014.

[6] "JAZZ BAND". cinematografo.it (in Italian).

[7] "The Jungle Book Italian voice cast". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2024-08-15.

[8] "The Aristocats Italian voice cast". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2024-08-15.

[9] "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope Italian voice cast". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2024-08-15.

[10] "Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back Italian voice cast". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2024-08-15.

[11] "Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi Italian voice cast". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2024-08-15.

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