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Robert Rietti

January 29, 2023

Robert Rietti, OMRI (born Lucio Rietti; 8 February 1923 – 3 April 2015), was an actor, and Oscar-nominated director of Anglo-Italian descent.[1][2] With over 200 credits to his name, he had a highly prolific career in the American, British and Italian entertainment industries. He was particularly prominent in post-production dubbing both foreign and domestic, often overseeing the English-language dubbing of foreign actors' dialogue. He is known for his dubbing work in the James Bond series, Lawrence of Arabia, Once Upon a Time in America, and The Guns of Navarone. He is often credited under the variant name spelling Robert Rietty.

Robert Rietti

OMRI
Born
Lucio Rietti

(1923-02-08)8 February 1923
Died3 April 2015(2015-04-03) (aged 92)
London, England
Other namesBobby Rietti, Robert Rietty
Occupation(s)Actor, director, playwright
Years active1933–2015
Parent(s)Victor Rietti
Rachel Rosenay

Early life

Born in 1923, Rietti was the younger of two sons of Italian-Jewish actor Victor Rietti and Rachel Rosenay. In 1932, at the age of nine, he joined his father's company Teatro Italiano, making his stage debut in Mysterious Currents. His father (under whom Ida Lupino and June Duprez had studied acting) developed his son's acting career under the name Bobby Rietti. He made his motion picture debut as Fattorino in Monty Banks' comedy Heads We Go (1933). He soon caught the eye of David O. Selznick, who offered him an extended film contract. Despite letting down Alfred Hitchcock, who handpicked him to play the lead in Sabotage (1936), he made 17 motion pictures during the 1930s, remaining a popular child actor throughout that decade. They would later work together in Hitchcock's film Frenzy.

Rietti was also active on the stage. At the age of twelve he played Jonathan across Elisabeth Bergner in James Barrie's last play, The Boy David (1936), which dramatised the Biblical story of King Saul and the young David. Altogether, in his boyhood years he acted in eighteen films and over one hundred and twenty plays.[3]

Second World War

His successful career on the stage and in motion pictures was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. Rietti and his brother, being Italian, were interned at Ascot internment camp.[4] He later joined the Rifle Brigade, but accepted the army's request for him to head "Stars in Battledress", a group of young actors, which included the young Peter Ustinov and Terry-Thomas, who toured England, and were flown throughout liberated Europe, to entertain Allied troops. In 1945, he was invited by John Gielgud to join his production of Hamlet for troops in the Far East. After the war, he returned to work in the theatre, films, radio, and the latest medium, early television.[5]

Career

Radio

In radio, he teamed up with Orson Welles in the radio series The Third Man (1951), and then again on the popular series The Black Museum (1952), which was broadcast to the US Armed Forces. This was to be the beginning of many collaborations between Rietti and Orson Welles, who remained close friends. He was also a regular on the radio series Horatio Hornblower (1952) with Michael Redgrave, The Scarlet Pimpernel (1952), Theatre Royal (1954) with Sir Laurence Olivier, and the classic Sherlock Holmes (1954) with John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson.

Television

His frequent work in television and many guest appearances made him a familiar face in the 1950s and 1960s. He is credited with 164 television appearances. He guest starred together with his father in The Jack Benny Program (1957) and in Harry's Girls (1960), which were both directed by his friend Ralph Levy, director of The Burns and Allen Show. They also performed together in three versions of his father's television success To Live in Peace and his father's television play Against the Stream (1959). In 1958, George Sanders presented Candle for the Madonna, an original television play Robert had written, in which Robert also played the lead.

 
Rietti (center) accepting the Honorary Doctorate of the Arts at the University of Florida in 2012

Films

Among the earliest of his film appearances were with Leslie Howard in The Scarlet Pimpernel and with Douglas Fairbanks in The Private Life of Don Juan (both 1934). Of his 83 film appearances throughout his career,[6] he is best remembered for contribution to the original James Bond pictures: besides Sean Connery, he was the only actor who appeared in both Thunderball (1965) and the re-make Never Say Never Again (1983). Other popular films he appeared in include The Italian Job (1969), Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), The Omen (1976), as well as a cameo[7] in Hannibal (2001). He played Robert Grant in Hell Is Empty (1967) for his brother, the producer Ronald Rietti.

Directing ADR

With the growing popularity of epic international films in the 1950s, Rietti gained a reputation for directing the ADR in many international films like Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and the James Bond films. Rietti directed ADR in more than 700 Films and received international recognition as the foremost director in this field.[8] He was nominated in Hollywood for the Golden Reel Award[6] (a technical Oscar) for his ADR direction of the English version of Once Upon a Time in America (1984), in which he directed Robert De Niro's post syncing. He often cast a young Catherine Zeta Jones as a re-voicing artist. Impressed with her talent, he pushed Samuel Goldwyn Jr. to cast her at a time when the actress was unknown.

His own voice was used to re-voice Gregory Peck's German dialogue in Guns of Navarone (1961); and Orson Welles' in Treasure Island (1972). His voice was used in eight of the James Bond films, for which he directed the ADR; his best known work in the series was replacing the voice of Adolfo Celi in Thunderball (1965) and Tetsurō Tamba in You Only Live Twice (1967). In the last ten films of Jack Hawkins, who had lost his voice to throat cancer, Hawkins was dubbed by Rietti.

Playwright

Rietti was also a prolific playwright who translated and adapted many Italian plays (notably those of Luigi Pirandello), from his native Italian into English.[6] He also wrote several original plays which were produced on the stage, for television, and for radio. He founded and served as executive editor for 18 years of Gambit, a theatre quarterly which published international plays, including many of his own. In recognition of their contribution to the arts, he was knighted together with his father, Victor Rietti, by the Italian government in 1959. Rietti's title Cavaliere was upgraded in 1988 to Cavaliere Ufficiale.

In 1957, Rietti played Satan in the York Mystery Plays; one of these performances was attended by the Queen.[9]

Later life and death

In 2012, he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Florida for his lifetime achievements and contribution to the Arts. The year also marked an 80-year milestone for the then 89-year-old actor. Rietti remained active in his last years. He lectured to film students at film academies and universities, published an anthology of Italian Plays and was an active member of BAFTA.

Rietti died on 3 April 2015 in London, England, aged 92.[10][11]

He is the father of Rabbi Jonathan Rietti, an educator and prominent speaker on Orthodox Judaism, most prominently for the international organisation Gateways.

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ Rietti (2010), p. 176.
  2. ^ Robert Rietti at IMDb
  3. ^ "Rietty, Robert". Radio Who's Who: 286. 1947.
  4. ^ Charnley, John (1990). Blackshirts and Roses: An Autobiography. London: Brockingday Publications. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-95152-530-2.
  5. ^ "Robert Rietti, voiceover actor - obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Dawson, Jeff (April 1994). "And This Is Me". Empire. No. 58. pp. 56–58.
  7. ^ McFarlane, Brian (2003). Encyclopedia of British Film. London: BFI/Methuen. p. 566. ISBN 978-0-41377-301-2.
  8. ^ Rietti (2010), p. 318.
  9. ^ "Queen Elizabeth meets the cast". York Mystery Plays Archive. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  10. ^ Weber, Bruce (5 May 2015). "Robert Rietti, Movies' 'Man With a Thousand Voices,' Dies at 92". The New York Times. p. B8. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  11. ^ . The Sunday Times. Times Newspapers Limited. 16 April 2015. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

Bibliography

  • Holmstrom, John (1996). The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich: Michael Russell. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-85955-178-6.
  • Rietti, Robert (2010). A Forehead Pressed Against a Window. New York: Ari Scharf. ISBN 978-1-45072-314-5.

External links

  • Robert Rietti at IMDb

January 29, 2023
robert, rietti, omri, born, lucio, rietti, february, 1923, april, 2015, actor, oscar, nominated, director, anglo, italian, descent, with, over, credits, name, highly, prolific, career, american, british, italian, entertainment, industries, particularly, promin. Robert Rietti OMRI born Lucio Rietti 8 February 1923 3 April 2015 was an actor and Oscar nominated director of Anglo Italian descent 1 2 With over 200 credits to his name he had a highly prolific career in the American British and Italian entertainment industries He was particularly prominent in post production dubbing both foreign and domestic often overseeing the English language dubbing of foreign actors dialogue He is known for his dubbing work in the James Bond series Lawrence of Arabia Once Upon a Time in America and The Guns of Navarone He is often credited under the variant name spelling Robert Rietty Robert RiettiOMRIBornLucio Rietti 1923 02 08 8 February 1923Died3 April 2015 2015 04 03 aged 92 London EnglandOther namesBobby Rietti Robert RiettyOccupation s Actor director playwrightYears active1933 2015Parent s Victor RiettiRachel Rosenay Contents 1 Early life 1 1 Second World War 2 Career 2 1 Radio 2 2 Television 2 3 Films 2 4 Directing ADR 2 5 Playwright 3 Later life and death 4 Selected filmography 5 References 5 1 Bibliography 6 External linksEarly life EditBorn in 1923 Rietti was the younger of two sons of Italian Jewish actor Victor Rietti and Rachel Rosenay In 1932 at the age of nine he joined his father s company Teatro Italiano making his stage debut in Mysterious Currents His father under whom Ida Lupino and June Duprez had studied acting developed his son s acting career under the name Bobby Rietti He made his motion picture debut as Fattorino in Monty Banks comedy Heads We Go 1933 He soon caught the eye of David O Selznick who offered him an extended film contract Despite letting down Alfred Hitchcock who handpicked him to play the lead in Sabotage 1936 he made 17 motion pictures during the 1930s remaining a popular child actor throughout that decade They would later work together in Hitchcock s film Frenzy Rietti was also active on the stage At the age of twelve he played Jonathan across Elisabeth Bergner in James Barrie s last play The Boy David 1936 which dramatised the Biblical story of King Saul and the young David Altogether in his boyhood years he acted in eighteen films and over one hundred and twenty plays 3 Second World War Edit His successful career on the stage and in motion pictures was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War Rietti and his brother being Italian were interned at Ascot internment camp 4 He later joined the Rifle Brigade but accepted the army s request for him to head Stars in Battledress a group of young actors which included the young Peter Ustinov and Terry Thomas who toured England and were flown throughout liberated Europe to entertain Allied troops In 1945 he was invited by John Gielgud to join his production of Hamlet for troops in the Far East After the war he returned to work in the theatre films radio and the latest medium early television 5 Career EditRadio Edit In radio he teamed up with Orson Welles in the radio series The Third Man 1951 and then again on the popular series The Black Museum 1952 which was broadcast to the US Armed Forces This was to be the beginning of many collaborations between Rietti and Orson Welles who remained close friends He was also a regular on the radio series Horatio Hornblower 1952 with Michael Redgrave The Scarlet Pimpernel 1952 Theatre Royal 1954 with Sir Laurence Olivier and the classic Sherlock Holmes 1954 with John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson Television Edit His frequent work in television and many guest appearances made him a familiar face in the 1950s and 1960s He is credited with 164 television appearances He guest starred together with his father in The Jack Benny Program 1957 and in Harry s Girls 1960 which were both directed by his friend Ralph Levy director of The Burns and Allen Show They also performed together in three versions of his father s television success To Live in Peace and his father s television play Against the Stream 1959 In 1958 George Sanders presented Candle for the Madonna an original television play Robert had written in which Robert also played the lead Rietti center accepting the Honorary Doctorate of the Arts at the University of Florida in 2012 Films Edit Among the earliest of his film appearances were with Leslie Howard in The Scarlet Pimpernel and with Douglas Fairbanks in The Private Life of Don Juan both 1934 Of his 83 film appearances throughout his career 6 he is best remembered for contribution to the original James Bond pictures besides Sean Connery he was the only actor who appeared in both Thunderball 1965 and the re make Never Say Never Again 1983 Other popular films he appeared in include The Italian Job 1969 Sunday Bloody Sunday 1971 The Omen 1976 as well as a cameo 7 in Hannibal 2001 He played Robert Grant in Hell Is Empty 1967 for his brother the producer Ronald Rietti Directing ADR Edit With the growing popularity of epic international films in the 1950s Rietti gained a reputation for directing the ADR in many international films like Lawrence of Arabia 1962 and the James Bond films Rietti directed ADR in more than 700 Films and received international recognition as the foremost director in this field 8 He was nominated in Hollywood for the Golden Reel Award 6 a technical Oscar for his ADR direction of the English version of Once Upon a Time in America 1984 in which he directed Robert De Niro s post syncing He often cast a young Catherine Zeta Jones as a re voicing artist Impressed with her talent he pushed Samuel Goldwyn Jr to cast her at a time when the actress was unknown His own voice was used to re voice Gregory Peck s German dialogue in Guns of Navarone 1961 and Orson Welles in Treasure Island 1972 His voice was used in eight of the James Bond films for which he directed the ADR his best known work in the series was replacing the voice of Adolfo Celi in Thunderball 1965 and Tetsurō Tamba in You Only Live Twice 1967 In the last ten films of Jack Hawkins who had lost his voice to throat cancer Hawkins was dubbed by Rietti Playwright Edit Rietti was also a prolific playwright who translated and adapted many Italian plays notably those of Luigi Pirandello from his native Italian into English 6 He also wrote several original plays which were produced on the stage for television and for radio He founded and served as executive editor for 18 years of Gambit a theatre quarterly which published international plays including many of his own In recognition of their contribution to the arts he was knighted together with his father Victor Rietti by the Italian government in 1959 Rietti s title Cavaliere was upgraded in 1988 to Cavaliere Ufficiale In 1957 Rietti played Satan in the York Mystery Plays one of these performances was attended by the Queen 9 Later life and death EditIn 2012 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Florida for his lifetime achievements and contribution to the Arts The year also marked an 80 year milestone for the then 89 year old actor Rietti remained active in his last years He lectured to film students at film academies and universities published an anthology of Italian Plays and was an active member of BAFTA Rietti died on 3 April 2015 in London England aged 92 10 11 He is the father of Rabbi Jonathan Rietti an educator and prominent speaker on Orthodox Judaism most prominently for the international organisation Gateways Selected filmography EditGirls Will Be Boys 1934 The Scarlet Pimpernel 1934 The Private Life of Don Juan 1934 In Town Tonight 1935 Emil and the Detectives 1935 Call of the Blood 1949 Prelude to Fame 1950 The Black Rider 1954 They Who Dare 1954 Stock Car 1955 Mr Arkadin 1955 Checkpoint 1956 The Truth About Women 1957 Tank Force 1958 Bluebeard s Ten Honeymoons 1960 Conspiracy of Hearts 1960 Sink the Bismarck 1960 The Story of Joseph and His Brethren 1961 Middle Course 1961 Time to Remember 1962 Dr No 1962 as John Strangways and Superintendent Duff voice Lawrence of Arabia 1962 as Majid voice On the Beat 1962 The Scarlet Blade 1963 Thunderball 1965 as Emilio Largo voice The Bible In the Beginning 1966 as Abraham s Steward You Only Live Twice 1967 as Tiger Tanaka voice The Italian Job 1969 as Turin Police Chief On Her Majesty s Secret Service 1969 as Casino Baccarat Official Sunday Bloody Sunday 1971 Paper Tiger 1975 as Harok voice The Hiding Place 1975 as Willem ten Boom The Omen 1976 as Monk The Message 1976 voice The Devil s Men 1976 as Sgt Vendris voice No Longer Alone 1976 as Joan s father Gulliver s Travels 1977 as Reldresal King of Blefuscu voice Avalanche Express 1979 as Gen Marakov voice replacing the broken English used by Robert Shaw for the character in the original recording For Your Eyes Only 1981 as Ernst Stavro Blofeld voice Never Say Never Again 1983 as Italian Minister 1 Madame Sousatzka 1988 as Leo Milev The March 1990 as Leo Borelli 30 Door Key 1991 Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady 1991 TV Movie as Franz Hoffman The Sea Change 1998 as Luigi Hilary and Jackie 1998 as Italian Flunky Hannibal 2001 as SogliatoReferences Edit Rietti 2010 p 176 Robert Rietti at IMDb Rietty Robert Radio Who s Who 286 1947 Charnley John 1990 Blackshirts and Roses An Autobiography London Brockingday Publications p 121 ISBN 978 0 95152 530 2 Robert Rietti voiceover actor obituary The Daily Telegraph 22 April 2015 Retrieved 12 December 2019 a b c Dawson Jeff April 1994 And This Is Me Empire No 58 pp 56 58 McFarlane Brian 2003 Encyclopedia of British Film London BFI Methuen p 566 ISBN 978 0 41377 301 2 Rietti 2010 p 318 Queen Elizabeth meets the cast York Mystery Plays Archive Retrieved 12 December 2019 Weber Bruce 5 May 2015 Robert Rietti Movies Man With a Thousand Voices Dies at 92 The New York Times p B8 Retrieved 5 January 2017 Obituary Robert Rietti The Sunday Times Times Newspapers Limited 16 April 2015 Archived from the original on 6 April 2016 Retrieved 16 April 2015 Bibliography Edit Holmstrom John 1996 The Moving Picture Boy An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995 Norwich Michael Russell p 115 ISBN 978 0 85955 178 6 Rietti Robert 2010 A Forehead Pressed Against a Window New York Ari Scharf ISBN 978 1 45072 314 5 External links EditRobert Rietti at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Robert Rietti amp oldid 1127936005, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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