RIP – RAIMONDO VIANELLO

EXPIRED: 04/15/10 – Raimondo Vianello, 87, was born in Rome, the son of a naval academy Admiral. You wouldn’t think that would make him a funny sorta guy but it did and after being captured by American troops during World War II (he was part of the Italian Social Republic) , Vianello turned to comedy.

In the early days of Italian TV he partnered with Ugo Tognazzi and, in 1958, hosted the political satire show Un due tre. The government stopped it a year later when they got a little to close to ribbing the then-president of the Republic, Giovanni Gronchi.

So what does a TV star do when he blacklisted from TV? He goes to movies, naturally.

RIP – EMILIO LAVAZZA

EXPIRED: 02/18/10 – Emilio Lavazza, 78, took a company founded by his grandfather Luigi, and turned it into an international coffee giant, spending close to 40 years at the helm.

He expanded the firm in coffee-obsessed Italy, where Lavazza now has almost half (48%) of the retail market. It’s the world’s sixth biggest coffee roaster. It has forecast sales of more than 1.1 billion Euros in 2009.

RIP – GLAUCO ONORATO

EXPIRED: 12/31/09 – Glauco Onorato, 73, was an Italian film, television and voice actor And with his death dies a good chunk of Hollywood. At least for Italian movie goers. He was the voice that brought so many stars to life!