Raf Vallone

Raffaele Raf Vallone 17 February 1916 31 October 2002 was an Italian actor and an international film star Born in Tropea Calabria the son of a lawyer Vallone attended Liceo classico Cavour in Turin and studied Law and Philosophy at the University of Turin and entered his fathers law firm He played professional Football at a young age playing in Serie A for Torino He won an Italian Cup with his team in season 19351936 Subsequently he became the editorial head of the culture section of LUnità then the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party and also a film and drama critic for the Turin newspaper La Stampa During World War II Vallone served with the Communist resistance His first film appearance was as a sailor in We the Living 1942 but Vallone was not interested in an acting career Nevertheless he was cast as a soldier competing with Vittorio Gassman for the love of Silvana Mangano in Riso amaro Bitter Rice 1949 The film became a neorealist classic and Vallone was launched on an international career In 2001 he published his autobiography Lalfabeto della memoria with Gremese Rome Vallone was married to the actress Elena Varzi from 1952 until his death They had three children two of whom are actors Eleonora Vallone and Saverio Vallone He died in Rome on 31 October 2002 Description above from the Wikipedia article Raf Vallone licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia