Enzo Staiola, the actor who became an icon at the tender age of nine playing the poignant role of Bruno Ricci in Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 Oscar-winning Italian flick Bicycle Thieves, has passed away at 85. The sad news was broken by Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Wednesday June 4, with no cause of death disclosed.
As word of his passing spread, tributes poured in for the beloved actor. Over on Facebook, one fan wrote: “One of those unforgettable ‘children’ of cinema. His image will always remain in what is the Great Italian Cinema.”
Another shared their sentiment: “There was a bit of Bruno in all of us, and with his unwelcome passing, a little piece of our heart also died. May he rest in peace and eternal glory! Condolences he participated in the greatest masterpiece ever.”
A third expressed their sorrow: “I am very sorry, he was a very good actor, in unforgettable and precious films, a mirror of an Italy that no longer exists.”
(Image: Stefania D’Alessandro/WireImage)
Someone else posted: “#RIP Enzo Staiola, 85. The young kid from BICYCLE THIEVES, who with his dad searches for the culprit in the famous Italian drama,” reports the Express.
And another reminisced: “Condolences to the family, I am left with the beautiful memory of his constant presence at a bar in the Garbatella district of Rome … moving the ending of the film I must have seen it I don’t know how many times!”
Bicycle Thieves is a cinematic gem that narrates the plight of a destitute father in post-World War II Rome on a desperate quest to find his stolen bicycle, which is crucial to keeping his job.
The film, directed by Vittorio De Sica, received an Honorary Oscar from the Academy as the most outstanding foreign language film released in the US between 1949 and 1950. It also earned a nomination for the Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay at the same ceremony.
Enzo recounted how he landed the role after being spotted by the director while walking home from school. In a July 2023 interview with La Repubblica, he recalled: “I was coming back from school and at a certain point I noticed this big car following me at walking pace,”.
“Then this gentleman with gray hair, all dressed up, got out and asked me: ‘What’s your name?’, and I was silent. And he said: ‘But don’t you talk?’ ‘I don’t feel like talking,’ I replied.
(Image: Getty)
“My mother always told me not to be too familiar if someone stopped us… But De Sica followed me home. My parents recognized him right away. He was a famous actor. He sat at the table in our house and tried to convince them to let me act in his new film. But they didn’t want to.”
Despite his parents’ initial hesitation, Enzo went on to play the role that would bring him international recognition. Following his breakthrough, he appeared in a few other notable films, including Joseph L Mankeiwicz’s 1954 classic The Barefoot Contessa, where he starred alongside Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner.
However, he ditched the glitz of Hollywood for a life crunching numbers as a maths teacher and shuffling papers in a land registry office. Reflecting on his acting days during an interview with La Repubblica, he seemed to have second thoughts about his stint as a movie star.
“In the end, it was a real pain in the ass,” he admitted. “As a kid I could never play with my friends because if I made a mark on my face I couldn’t make movies anymore. Then it was also a bit boring, the times of cinema are very long.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
