Giampiero Albertini (20 December 1927 – 14 May 1991) was an Italian film, television and voice actor.
Biography
Born in Muggiò, Albertini started his career as stage actor at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, under the guidance of Giorgio Strehler. In 1962, he made his film debut with Dino Risi's La marcia su Roma, and later worked with, among others, Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Carlo Lizzani, Francesco Rosi, Gillo Pontecorvo, Nanni Loy. Albertini also was active in poliziotteschi and giallo films, in which he was sometimes credited as Al Albert.
During the 1970s, Albertini was featured in the Ignis commercials as a disgruntled customer struggling to find the items he is searching for.
As a voice actor, Albertini was best known as the official Italian dubbing voice of Peter Falk as the title character in Columbo. He has also occasionally dubbed other actors such as Martin Balsam, Donald Pleasence, Phil Brown, Brian Keith, Terry Jones and Vic Tayback. One of his final dubbing works was the voice of Saddam Hussein in his interview with Bruno Vespa on Rai 1. He voiced also J. Audubon Woodlore in Hooked Bear, Grand Canyonscope and Grin and Bear It.
Death
Albertini died of a heart attack, at his home in Monte Mario in Rome, on 14 May 1991 at the age of 63. The dubbing voice of Columbo was passed on to Antonio Guidi in the remaining seasons of the show.
Filmography
Cinema
March on Rome (1962) - Cristoforo
The Organizer (1963) - Porro
La vita agra (1964) - Libero Fornaciari
Thrilling (1965) - Il "Rosso" (segment "L'autostrada del sole") Seven Golden Men (1965) - August (le portugais) Made in Italy (1965) - Immigrant (segment "6 Final episode") Seven Golden Men Strike Again (1966) - August The Million Dollar Countdown (1967) - Joe Tiffany Memorandum (1967) - Callaghan's Agent / Doctor The Head of the Family (1967) Italian Secret Service (1968) - Ottone Days of Fire (1968) - Sempresi A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die (1968) - Fred Duskin Summit (1968) The Black Sheep (1968) - Senator Santarini Commandos (1968) - Aldo Eat It (1968) - Farmer Burn! (1969) - Henry Thompson Bolidi sull'asfalto - A tutta birra! (1970) - Albertarelli Many Wars Ago (1970) - Capt. Abbati Return of Sabata (1971) - Joe McIntock The Life of Leonardo da Vinci (1971) - Ludovico il Moro The Case of the Bloody Iris (1972) - Commissioner Enci Partirono preti, tornarono... curati (1973) - Gen. Miguel Seven Hours of Violence (1973) - Police Commissioner La rosa rossa (1973) The Suspects (1974) - Matteo Gallone E cominciò il viaggio nella vertigine (1974) - Train's escort officer Zorro (1975) - Brother Francisco Mark of the Cop (1975) - Brigadiere Bonetti The Tough Ones (1976) - Commissioner Caputo L'Année sainte (1976) - Commissaire Mazzola A Matter of Time (1976) - Mr. De Perma Mark Strikes Again (1976) - Montelli The Last Round (1976) - Sapienza Le Gang (1977) - Léon Tre soldi e la donna di classe (1977) Return of the 38 Gang (1977) - Folco Bordoni Dove volano i corvi d'argento (1977) - Istevene's father Non sparate sui bambini (1978) - Sign. Settimi Suggestionata (1978) - Francesco / Rachele's father The Life of Verdi (1982) The Betrothed (1989) Saremo felici (1989)
Dubbing roles
Animation
Smoke in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue
Live action
Lieutenant Colombo in Columbo (seasons 1-8) Sam Diamond in Murder by Death Lou Peckinpaugh in The Cheap Detective Peter Falk in Wings of Desire Ray Calhoun in Hang 'Em High Tang Wu in The Love Bug Owen Lars in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope Sheriff Jellicol in The Big Gundown Mel Sharples in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Theodore Roosevelt in The Wind and the Lion Bennett Cross in Death Wish 3 Sanchez in Mackenna's Gold Ernst Stavro Blofeld in You Only Live Twice Sir Bedevere in Monty Python and the Holy Grail