Widely hailed as one of the world's funniest men, this loquacious, rubber-faced comic has been one of Italy's most popular actors for much of the last decade. At age 19, Benigni moved from working as a small-town street performer in his native Tuscany to performing stand-up comedy and acting in "experimental" theater in cosmopolitan Rome. Collaborating with Giuseppe Bertolucci, Benigni co-wrote the comic monologue "Cioni Mario Di Gaspare Fu Giulia/Mario Was Julia". This provided the foundation for his feature debut, "Berlinguer, Ti Voglio Bene/Berlinguer, I Love You" (1976), helmed by
