Vittorio De Sica

Born

July 7, 1901

Died

1974

From

Sora, Lazio, Italy·Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Also:
Director
Writer

178

Credits on file

Decades active

Awards

In short · Acted for 12 decades — 178 credits, 12 Golden Globe Award wins.

Remembered for

Ranked by community engagement + sustained interest across this person's credits in our database.

Recent & in release

1961
Award win
Golden Globe Award — Best Non-English Language Film
1961
Award win
Golden Globe Awards — Golden Globe — Best Non-English Language Film
1955
Award win
Grolla D Oro For Best Direction — Grolla d'oro for Best Direction
1954
Award win
Grolla D Oro For Best Leading Actor — Grolla d'oro for Best Leading Actor

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Biography

Vittorio De Sica was born and raised in Naples, where he initially worked as an office clerk to support his impoverished family. His interest in acting led to his screen debut in his teens, and in 1923 he joined a stage company. By the late 1920s, he had become a successful matinee idol in Italian theatre and later in Italian cinema, primarily in light comedies. He began directing in 1940, initially making comedies in a similar style, but with his fifth film, *The Children Are Watching Us* (1943), he demonstrated a new level of depth and a sensitive approach to working with actors, especially children. This film marked the beginning of his collaboration with writer Cesare Zavattini, with whom he later made *Shoeshine* (1946) and *Bicycle Thieves* (1948), poignant portrayals of poverty in postwar Italy that won special Oscars before the foreign film category was officially established. After the commercial failure of *Umberto D.* (1952), a bleak portrayal of the challenges of old age, De Sica returned to lighter projects and appeared in front of the camera more often. Although *Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow* (1963) earned him another Oscar, it was widely seen as the end of his era as a great director. However, just before his death, he directed *The Garden of the Finzi-Continis* (1970), which won him yet another Oscar, and his final film, *A Brief Vacation* (1973). He died following surgery to remove a cyst from his lungs.