Claudio Gora
Italian postcard by Stab. Angeli, Terni / A. Terzeli, Roma, no. 366. Photo: Calva Studio.
Claudio Gora, pseudonym of Emilio Giordana (1913-1998), was an Italian actor and director. Already highly active during the war years, from the late fifties he had a prolific career in Italy in both genre and 'auteur' cinema, often as judges, commissioners, and high-placed military. He acted in 164 films and TV series/plays between 1939 and 1997, while he directed 9 films between 1950 and 1972.
Gora, born in Genoa, 27 July 1913, was the son of the general of the Alpine troops Carlo Felice Giordana (1865-1916). After graduating in Law, he founded the "Teatro Sperimentale Luigi Pirandello" in Genoa. He made his film debut as film actor in 1939 with Raffaele Matarazzo's Trappola d'amore/ Love Trap. His activity continued with numerous parts as a young actor, including Torna caro ideal (1939) by Guido Brignone, Signorinette (1942) by Luigi Zampa, La storia di una capinera (1943) by Gennaro Righelli, Nessuno torna indietro/ Nobody goes back (1943, but released in 1945) by Alessandro Blasetti, and Resurrezione/ Resurrection (1944) by Flavio Calzavara. After the war, Gora obtained his first important engagements in Italian-French co-productions such as Christian-Jaque's La Chartreuse de Parme (1947) and Jean Delannoy's Marie-Antoinette reine de France (1956). In the meantime he made his debut as a film director with a demanding work, taken from the hit novel by Giuseppe Berto, Il cielo è rosso (1950). It was followed in 1953 by Febbre di vivere/ Eager to Live, a courageous investigation of the environment and customs of the new generations, based on Cronaca, a play by Leopoldo Trieste.
After a gap between 1952 and 1957, Gora had a most active film acting career from the late 1950s, doing up to 7 films a year in 1960-1961, and often playing magistrates, commissioners, and high-ranked military. In the late 1950s Gora acted in historical adventure films such as Alberto Lattuada's blockbuster Il tempesta, based on Pushkin's Captain's Daughter. and peplum films such as La Venere di Cheronea (Fernando Cerchio, Viktor Tourjansky, 1957) with Jacques Sernas and Belinda Lee. Gora also played Remo Banducci, husband of the victim, in Pietro Germi's Un maledetto imbroglio (1959), based on the famous novel by Gadda, Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana. For this film, he was awarded the Silver Ribbon for supporting actor. Gora acted in Citto Maselli's I delfini, Antonio Pietrangeli's Adua e le compagne, Via Margutta by Mario Camerini, Tutti a casa by Luigi Comencini, and Dino Risi's Un amore a Roma, all shot in 1960. In 1960 Gora himself directed La contessa azzurra, a film produced by the shipowner Achille Lauro. With Alberto Sordi, Gora played in Una vita difficile/ A difficult life (Dino Risi, 1961). Other important interpretations Gora had in A porte chiuse (Dino Risi, 1961), Fantasmi a Roma (1961) - one of Belinda Lee's last films before she was killed in a car crash, Il sorpasso (Dino Risi, 1962) starring Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant, Il processo di Verona/The Verona Trial (1963), Il medico della mutua/ The Family Doctor (Luigi Zampa, 1968) starring Sordi, Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica/Confessions of a Police Captain (Damiano Damiani, 1971), Gente di rispetto/ The Masters (Luigi Zampa) and La donna della domenica/The Sunday Woman (Luigi Comencini), the latter both from 1975. Gora also played evil Dr. Mabuse in the German-Italian coproduction Die Todesstrahlen des Dr. Mabuse/ I raggi di Dr Mabuse (1964), while he was the police chief in Mario Bava's Diabolik! (1968). Parallel, Gora had also an active TV acting career, from 1960 onward. Gora's last film acting part was in one of the typical Christmas comedies, Vacanze di Natale '91 (Enrico Oldoini, 1991) with Christian De Sica, Ornella Muti, Alberto Sordi etc. His last TV part was in La piovra 8 - Lo scandalo (1997). Claudio Gora died one year after, on March 13, 1998 (age 84) in Rocca Priora, Lazio, Italy. He acted in 164 films and TV series/plays between 1939 and 1997, while he directed 9 films between 1950 and 1972.
Gora was the husband of the actress Marina Berti (1924-2002), whom he met on the set of Storia di una capinera. Gora had five children, all involved in the entertainment world: Andrea, Marina, Carlo, Luca, and Cristina Giordana. Since 2005, the "Claudio Gora Award", an annual competition dedicated to experimental theater, has been held at the Laboratorium Teatro di Roma.
Sources: IMDb, and Wikipedia (Italian and English).
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Claudio Gora
Italian postcard by Stab. Angeli, Terni / A. Terzeli, Roma, no. 366. Photo: Calva Studio.
Claudio Gora, pseudonym of Emilio Giordana (1913-1998), was an Italian actor and director. Already highly active during the war years, from the late fifties he had a prolific career in Italy in both genre and 'auteur' cinema, often as judges, commissioners, and high-placed military. He acted in 164 films and TV series/plays between 1939 and 1997, while he directed 9 films between 1950 and 1972.
Gora, born in Genoa, 27 July 1913, was the son of the general of the Alpine troops Carlo Felice Giordana (1865-1916). After graduating in Law, he founded the "Teatro Sperimentale Luigi Pirandello" in Genoa. He made his film debut as film actor in 1939 with Raffaele Matarazzo's Trappola d'amore/ Love Trap. His activity continued with numerous parts as a young actor, including Torna caro ideal (1939) by Guido Brignone, Signorinette (1942) by Luigi Zampa, La storia di una capinera (1943) by Gennaro Righelli, Nessuno torna indietro/ Nobody goes back (1943, but released in 1945) by Alessandro Blasetti, and Resurrezione/ Resurrection (1944) by Flavio Calzavara. After the war, Gora obtained his first important engagements in Italian-French co-productions such as Christian-Jaque's La Chartreuse de Parme (1947) and Jean Delannoy's Marie-Antoinette reine de France (1956). In the meantime he made his debut as a film director with a demanding work, taken from the hit novel by Giuseppe Berto, Il cielo è rosso (1950). It was followed in 1953 by Febbre di vivere/ Eager to Live, a courageous investigation of the environment and customs of the new generations, based on Cronaca, a play by Leopoldo Trieste.
After a gap between 1952 and 1957, Gora had a most active film acting career from the late 1950s, doing up to 7 films a year in 1960-1961, and often playing magistrates, commissioners, and high-ranked military. In the late 1950s Gora acted in historical adventure films such as Alberto Lattuada's blockbuster Il tempesta, based on Pushkin's Captain's Daughter. and peplum films such as La Venere di Cheronea (Fernando Cerchio, Viktor Tourjansky, 1957) with Jacques Sernas and Belinda Lee. Gora also played Remo Banducci, husband of the victim, in Pietro Germi's Un maledetto imbroglio (1959), based on the famous novel by Gadda, Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana. For this film, he was awarded the Silver Ribbon for supporting actor. Gora acted in Citto Maselli's I delfini, Antonio Pietrangeli's Adua e le compagne, Via Margutta by Mario Camerini, Tutti a casa by Luigi Comencini, and Dino Risi's Un amore a Roma, all shot in 1960. In 1960 Gora himself directed La contessa azzurra, a film produced by the shipowner Achille Lauro. With Alberto Sordi, Gora played in Una vita difficile/ A difficult life (Dino Risi, 1961). Other important interpretations Gora had in A porte chiuse (Dino Risi, 1961), Fantasmi a Roma (1961) - one of Belinda Lee's last films before she was killed in a car crash, Il sorpasso (Dino Risi, 1962) starring Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant, Il processo di Verona/The Verona Trial (1963), Il medico della mutua/ The Family Doctor (Luigi Zampa, 1968) starring Sordi, Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica/Confessions of a Police Captain (Damiano Damiani, 1971), Gente di rispetto/ The Masters (Luigi Zampa) and La donna della domenica/The Sunday Woman (Luigi Comencini), the latter both from 1975. Gora also played evil Dr. Mabuse in the German-Italian coproduction Die Todesstrahlen des Dr. Mabuse/ I raggi di Dr Mabuse (1964), while he was the police chief in Mario Bava's Diabolik! (1968). Parallel, Gora had also an active TV acting career, from 1960 onward. Gora's last film acting part was in one of the typical Christmas comedies, Vacanze di Natale '91 (Enrico Oldoini, 1991) with Christian De Sica, Ornella Muti, Alberto Sordi etc. His last TV part was in La piovra 8 - Lo scandalo (1997). Claudio Gora died one year after, on March 13, 1998 (age 84) in Rocca Priora, Lazio, Italy. He acted in 164 films and TV series/plays between 1939 and 1997, while he directed 9 films between 1950 and 1972.
Gora was the husband of the actress Marina Berti (1924-2002), whom he met on the set of Storia di una capinera. Gora had five children, all involved in the entertainment world: Andrea, Marina, Carlo, Luca, and Cristina Giordana. Since 2005, the "Claudio Gora Award", an annual competition dedicated to experimental theater, has been held at the Laboratorium Teatro di Roma.
Sources: IMDb, and Wikipedia (Italian and English).
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.