Manly, chiseled, exceedingly handsome, very agile Massimo Girotti was
an engineering student and polo/swimming star before entering films in
1939. He began auspiciously in serious leads, most notably
Roberto Rossellini's
Desire (1946),
Luchino Visconti's
Obsession (1943) and
Vittorio De Sica's
The Gates of Heaven (1945),
while his physical stature and all-round athletism were put to good use
in actioneers such as
Spartaco (1953) in
which he played the pre-Kirk Douglas slave-turned-leader role of
Spartacus. By the 60s, however, Girotti was reduced to support roles in
swashbuckling adventure and badly-dubbed sand-and-spear spectacles,
appearing only occasionally in well-mounted films of quality, such as
Pier Paolo Pasolini's
Teorema (1968),
Bernardo Bertolucci's
Last Tango in Paris (1972)
and Visconti's
The Innocent (1976). He died only
a few weeks before the release of his last film,
Ferzan Ćzpetek's
Facing Windows (2003).
Facing Windows(2003)as Simone, Davide Veroli
Pier Paolo Pasolini - Una vita spezzata(2000)
Der Kardinal - Der Preis der Liebe(2000)as Donato
Giuseppe De Santis(2007)as Self - Host
Tal cual(1988)as Self - Interviewee
Compression(1995)as Self
Roberto Rossellini: Frammenti e battute(2001)as Gino Rossati
