Lino Banfi is undoubtedly one of Italy's most important comic actors and is now a well-known and appreciated face on television. Author of jokes and sayings that have become undisputed cult hits, he found fame in the 1970s and 1980s with the genre of Italian-style sexy comedy, and then marked a generation with his famous Oronzo Canà and the grandfather Libero of Un medico in famiglia, a great Rai-branded hit. Today Lino Banfi is loved by young and old alike for his Puglian verve and always-ready wit.

The beginnings of Lino Banfi's career.

Lino Banfi, stage name of Pasquale Zagaria, was born in 1936 in Andria, Puglia, and at the age of 3 moved to Canosa di Puglia, where he lived until he came of age. During his adolescence he tried to enter the seminary, on the advice of his particularly devout family. Religious life, however, is not for young Pasquale, who instead is more interested in entertainment and singing.

In fact, his debut in this world took place as a singer in his country's musical festivals. When he was just 18 years old, he moved to Milan to try his hand at variety and here he met ArturoVetrani who welcomes him into his company and directs him into the world of comedy, where Lino Banfi exploits the most distinctive features of his region, starting with the dialect of Bari.

He originally took the name Lino Zaga and is said to have changed his last name to Banfi on the advice of the great Totò who considered Zaga a symbol of bad luck. In the 1950s, however, life in Milan was expensive and the actor was often forced to go hungry. In 1960 came his film debut in the film Urlatori alla sbarra, and from 1964 he played small parts in a number of films by Fatty and Franco.

Meanwhile, in 1967 he moved to Rome and achieved good success with cabaret, along with Anna Mazzamauro, Carletto Sposito, Lando Fiorini and Enrico Montesano. Instead, on television Banfi participated in several TV dramas, including Il giornalino di Gian Burrasca, Adulterio all'italiana, Zum Zum, Gli infermieri della mutua and many others.

The sexy comedies and The Ball Coach.

In the early 1970s for Lino Banfi began a new phase of his career dedicated to the sexy comedies, in which he acted alongside great actors such as Lando Buzzanca, Renzo Montagnani, Mario Carotenuto, Barbara Bouchet, Anna Maria Rizzoli, Gloria Guida, Lilli Carati, Nadia Cassini and Edwige Fenech.

During these years, however, the comedian will also have the opportunity to work with other important characters, including Marisa Merlini, Gianfranco d'Angelo, Alvaro Vitali, Enzo Cannavale, Isabella Biagini, Monica Vitti and Adriana Facchetti. Instead, in the 1980s Lino Banfi will often team up with Paolo Villaggio, often directed by Neri Parenti. In 1983 he will also work with Benigni in the film F.F.S.S. Cioè che mi hai portato a fare sopra Posillipo se non mi vuoi.

In 1984 it was the turn of the film The ball coach, in which he will play his most iconic and unforgettable character, that of Oronzo Canà who unbeknownst to him is hired to relegate the Longobarda team to Serie B. In the late 1980s he would host Domenica In, Stasera Lino, and Waiting for Sanremo, and in film he would collaborate mainly with Christian De Sica, Renato Pozzetto, and Massimo Boldi.

Grandpa Libero and A Doctor in the Family

In 1996 Lino Banfi received the François Truffaut Award at the Giffoni Film Festival, and the following year he was on television with the drama Nuda proprietà vendesi. The most important success of the 1990s came in 1998, when the actor played Grandpa Libero in the Rai 1 series A doctor in the family, a role he held from 1998 to 2009 and from 2013 to 2016.

The drama tells the story of the Martini family and its patriarch who has to look after children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In the meantime, Banfi is named UNICEF ambassador, and in 2003 he received a lifetime achievement telegatto.

There is no shortage of other work on television, such as Angelo the janitor, My Friend Santa Claus, Father of Brides, All Maria's Fathers, Il commissario Zagaria, L'allenatore nel pallone 2, Buona giornata. In 2016 he participated in the film Quo vado with Checco Zalone, and in 2022 he was part of the cast of the film Old Rogues by Chiara Sani.