Walter Chiari (Actor)

Debonair leading man of light comedies by such Italian directors as Steno, Mario Monicelli, Dino Risi and Nanni Loy. A former swimming and boxing champion, Chiari began his acting career in the late 1940s and first won notice for his portrayal of the cynical would-be seducer of Anna Magnani in Luchino Visconti's 1951 classic "Bellissima". He went on to appear in international films including Otto Preminger's "Bonjour Tristesse" (1957) and as Silence in Orson Welles's "Chimes at Midnight" (1966). After appearing in more than 40 plays and musicals on the Italian stage, Chiari made his Broadway debut opposite Barbara Cook in the short-lived musical "The Gay Life". By the mid-1970s his career had wound down and he attempted a comeback in the late 80s with Massmimo Mazzucco's "Romance" (1986) and Peter Del Monte's "Traces of Amorous Life" (1990).