Enzo Cerusico (22 October 1937 – 26 November 1991) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1948 and 1984.
Life and career The son of a production manager, Cerusico started his career as a child actor in 1948, playing a role of weight in Alessandro Blasetti's Heart and Soul. He studied acting first at the and later with Alessandro Fersen, and had his breakout on stage in the 1960s, playing the title role in Meo Patacca.
Career in the United States Cerusico's first role on American television was in a 1966 episode of I Spy filmed in Rome. Producer Sheldon Leonard held a casting call for an English-speaking actor to play the kid brother of the female Italian guest star. Cerusico spoke no English but with a friend's help he memorized one line — "I studied English in the school since four years" — and managed to bluff his way into an interview with Leonard.Goodwin, Fritz. (1969, 31 May – 6 June). The operation was a failure ... but the patient survived. TV Guide.
Leonard realized Cerusico wasn't fluent in English but he thought the young man possessed "Jean Paul Belmondo's jaunty virility and the swaggering charm of Maurice Chevalier." Leonard chose Cerusico for the I Spy guest role and Cerusico learned his lines phonetically and delivered them by rote.
Cerusico later played the title character in My Friend Tony, an hour-long crime drama that aired on NBC in 1969.
Personal life Cerusico's family had hoped he would follow tradition and become a physician. But during his teen years, Cerusico realized he wouldn't be a good doctor and decided he "didn't want to be one among many, a mediocre."
While living in Los Angeles during filming of My Friend Tony, Enzo and Tiziana learned English by reading Ernest Hemingway's short stories and watching Walter Cronkite's evening newscasts. The couple used an audio tape recorder to record the CBS Evening News each night and replayed the tape three times, Enzo said: "First for the separate words, then for the sentences and finally to find out what the news was." Publicity materials released in 1969 for My Friend Tony gave the 32-year-old Cerusico's age as 25.
Selected filmography
Heart and Soul (1948) - Nelli Feathers in the Wind (1950) - Little patriot Brief Rapture (1951) I due derelitti (1951) Viva il cinema! (1952) - (uncredited) Red Shirts (1952) - Ciceruacchio's son In Olden Days (1952) - The drummer (segment "Il tamburino sardo") The Angels of the District (1952) - Il Capo La figlia del diavolo (1952) Una croce senza nome (1952) It's Never Too Late (1953) - Antonio Trabbi bambino Guendalina (1957) - Postino La Dolce Vita (1960) - Fotografo Il Mattatore (1960) - Benito Mesci (uncredited) Siege of Syracuse (1960) - Giovane allievo (uncredited) Colossus and the Amazon Queen (1960) - Menandro Il gobbo (1960) - Scheggia Ghosts of Rome (1961) - L'uomo corteggiamento giovane Tiro al piccione (1961) - Montaldo - the shepherd killed Cronache del '22 (1961) - (segment "Giorno di paga") Duel of the Titans (1961) - Numa Pompilio Pugni pupe e marinai (1961) - Raffaele Bottari Cartouche (1962) - Un bandit Duel of Fire (1962) - Policeman Hercules, Samson and Ulysses (1963) - Ulysses Blood and Black Lace (1964) - Gas Station Attendant In ginocchio da te (1964) - Gualtiero - cousin of Carla Extraconiugale (1964) - Manovale (segment "La doccia") Una storia di notte (1964) - Il Matto Mondo pazzo... gente matta! (1966) - Marco - The Cello Player Me, Me, Me... and the Others (1966) (1966) - Gru (uncredited) Tre notti violente (1966) Maigret a Pigalle (1966) - Albert Mi vedrai tornare (1966) - Lt. Saro Spampinato Faustina (1968) - Enea Troiani Invasion (1970) - Piero Nato Per amore o per forza (1971) Master of Love (1972) - Romeo The Dead Are Alive (1972) - Alberto Meo Patacca (1972) - Marco Pepe Anche se volessi lavorare, che faccio? (1972) - Girasole No, the Case Is Happily Resolved (1973) - Fabio Santamaria The Five Days aka Le Cinque Giornate (1973) - Romolo Marcelli Zorro (1975) - Joaquín, Don Diego's Servant Strip First, Then We Talk (1975) - Alberto Donati A.A.A. cercasi spia... disposta spiare per conto spie (1976) - Giovanni Sebastiano Bacchi La lozana andaluza (1976) - Rampín Occhio alla vedova (1976) 7 ragazze di classe (1979) - Roberto Galíndez Scusi lei è normale? (1979) - Nicola Proietti / 'Nicole' Uno scugnizzo a New York (1984) - Anna's Father Treasure Island in Outer Space (1987, TV Mini-Series) - Augustine
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