Victor Spinetti
Acting
1933-09-02 · Cwm, Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire, Wales
Victor Sinetti (born Vittorio Giorgio Andre Spinetti) was a Welsh comedy actor, author and poet. He appeared in dozens of films and stage plays throughout his 50-year career, including the three 1960s Beatles films "A Hard Day's Night", "Help!" and "Magical Mystery Tour". Born in Cwm, Ebbw Vale, Wales, Spinetti was educated at Monmouth School and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, of which he became a Fellow. After various menial jobs, Spinetti pursued a stage career and was closely associated with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in London, England. Among the productions were "Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be" and "Oh! What a Lovely War" (1963), which transferred to New York City and for which he won a Tony Award. Spinetti's film career developed simultaneously; his dozens of film appearances would include Zeffirelli's "The Taming of the Shrew", "Under Milk Wood", "The Return of the Pink Panther" and "Under the Cherry Moon". During his later career, Spinetti acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in such roles as Lord Foppington in "The Relapse" and the Archbishop in "Richard III", at Stratford-upon-Avon; and, in 1990, he appeared in "The Krays". In 2008 he appeared in a one-man show, "A Very Private Diary", which toured the UK as "A Very Private Diary ... Revisited!", recounting his life story. Spinetti was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011 and died of the disease in June 2012.
Filmography
The Story of Musicals
2012 · Series
The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour Memories
2008 · Movie
New Tricks
2004 · Series
High Hopes
2002 · Series
In the Beginning
2000 · Series
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Adventures in the Secret Service
1999 · Movie
Boobs in the Wood
1999 · Movie
Julie and the Cadillacs
1999 · Movie
The Beatles Anthology
1995 · Series
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Attack of the Hawkmen
1995 · Movie
You Can't Do That! The Making of 'A Hard Day's Night'
1995 · Movie
Character Building
1995 · Movie
Tommy Cooper - The Magic Touch
1993 · Movie
Seriously Seeking Sid
1993 · Movie
An Actor's Life for Me
1991 · Series
Paul Merton: The Series
1991 · Series
Bottom
1991 · Series
The Princess and the Goblin
1991 · Movie
The Krays
1990 · Movie
Romeo.Juliet
1990 · Movie
The Paradise Club
1989 · Series
The Further Adventures of SuperTed
1989 · Series
The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank
1988 · Movie
Under the Cherry Moon
1986 · Movie
Mistral's Daughter
1984 · Series
SuperTed
1983 · Series
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
1979 · Movie
Take My Wife
1979 · Series
3-2-1
1978 · Series
The Sea
1978 · Movie
Hardcore
1977 · Movie
Casanova & Co.
1977 · Movie
Voyage of the Damned
1976 · Movie
Emily
1976 · Movie
Fred Basset
1976 · Series
Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done
1975 · Movie
The Return of the Pink Panther
1975 · Movie
The Great McGonagall
1975 · Movie
The Little Prince
1974 · Movie
Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World
1973 · Movie
The 500 Pound Jerk
1973 · Movie
Under Milk Wood
1972 · Movie
Defeat of the Mafia
1970 · Movie
Start the Revolution Without Me
1970 · Movie
A Promise of Bed
1969 · Movie
Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?
1969 · Movie
Two in Clover
1969 · Series
The Biggest Bundle of Them All
1968 · Movie
Magical Mystery Tour
1967 · Movie
Omnibus
1967 · Series
The Taming of the Shrew
1967 · Movie
The Wild Affair
1965 · Movie
BBC Play of the Month
1965 · Series
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965 · Series
Help!
1965 · Movie
A Hard Day's Night
1964 · Movie
I Think They Call Him John
1964 · Movie
Becket
1964 · Movie
Sparrows Can't Sing
1963 · Movie
The Saint
1962 · Series
The Merv Griffin Show
1962 · Series
Richard the Lionheart
1962 · Series
The Gentle Terror
1961 · Movie
Sweet Sixteen
Series