[Allan]

Toto was the illegitimate son of an Italian aristocrat.
He felt obliged to own a yacht
even though he was deadly afraid of the sea
and only would go on board
when it was anchored at shore.

Alberto Sordi
IMHO
is the greatest Italian actor of all time.
He has starred in close to 100 films
most of which never made it to America
not even to the 'art' theatres.
(The White Sheik, by Fellini, is an exception).

Most Italian men I know detest Sordi
probably because his humour is based
upon a hilariously accurate mimicry
of the average Italian male's inflated ego
his bragging
his sexual and social pretentions.

[Revolting cat!]

I saw Alberto Sordi at an appearance he made in an art movie theater last year. Needless to say, the appearance was a sold out affair, but outside the theater, no one I spoke to had ever heard of the man. He made many films, and many among them stinkers, of which one followed the appearance I attended. Go figure! Still, you are right, he is, if not the greatest, one of the greatest.

At the same theater, not long after or before that (I can't quite recall,) Toto's daughter introduced one of his films.

Another fine Italian comic that comes to mind is the late Vittorio Gassman.