Gigi Ballista

Acting

Gigi Ballista

Born 1918-12-01 · Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Gigi Ballista (1 December 1918 – 2 August 1980) was an Italian film and television actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1961 and 1980. Born in Florence, Ballista graduated in Law, then he started working as a PR consultant in the field of advertising and industrial documentaries. He debuted as an actor at a mature age in the early 1960s with some minor roles, but his breakout came in 1966 with a role of weight in Pietro Germi's The Birds, the Bees and the Italians. Following the critical and commercial success of the film, Ballista decided to pursue a professional career as an actor, and he became, mainly thanks to his characteristic hoarse and dysphonic voice, one of the most recognizable character actors in Italian cinema and television. Description above from the Wikipedia article Gigi Ballista, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Midnight Express poster
7.4

Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of a country. The courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".

Midnight Express

1978

Salon Kitty poster
5.6

In Nazi Germany, Kitty runs a brothel where the soldiers come to 'relax'. Recording devices have been installed by a power-hungry official who plans to use the information to blackmail and usurp Hitler. One of the girls discovers the ploy and, with the madam's help, takes on the dangerous task of exposing the conspiracy.

Salon Kitty

1976

The Queens poster
5.4

Four comedic shorts explore quirky relationships and misadventures: a teenage girl's journey home, a self-serving babysitter, a husband confronting infidelity, and a wealthy woman's drunken escapades with her butler.

The Queens

1966

How I Learned to Love Women poster
4.8

An erotic comedy about the many affairs of a young man with different women.

How I Learned to Love Women

1966

The Secret of Santa Vittoria poster
6.9

During World War II, Italian villagers hide their wine from the German army.

The Secret of Santa Vittoria

1970

Giovannona Long-Thigh poster
5.9

When a judge shuts down a high profile cheese factory for violating pollution standards, the owner bribes a monsignor to fix the problem. After they discover the judge has a predilection for married women, the owner employs a prostitute to pose as his wife in an attempt to seduce the judge.

Giovannona Long-Thigh

1973

Stavisky... poster
5.9

Biarritz, 1933. Charm and talent assist small-time swindler Serge Alexandre, alias Stavisky, to bribe his way into the centre of French politics. But when his great scam involving millions is exposed, he brings the government to the verge of collapse and the country to the brink of civil war.

Stavisky...

1974

The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia poster
4.8

When an oily attorney dies at the hands of the mafia, a dedicated French detective investigates the man's murder. He soon uncovers a drug-smuggling operation and lets his sawed-off shotgun do the talking to the toughs in this Gallic gangster feature.

The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia

1967

The Family Vice poster
5.3

When Giacomo D'Amato is released from jail he is immediately employed by Magda, in a plot to secure her the heritage of the count. But there are other players in this game too, and Giacomo has his own agenda.

The Family Vice

1975

Blume in Love poster
5.8

Lawyer Stephen Blume, who specializes in divorces, lives a paradoxical situation when, having his own marriage break up, is still in love with his ex-wife.

Blume in Love

1973

Under the Sheets poster
5.0

Three medical students who are reluctant to hit the books and unwilling to work are much more enthusiastic about creating pranks and targeting a thriving confidential, female doctor.

Under the Sheets

1976

Roma bene poster
6.0

A parade of corrupt and sleazy characters in the high society of Rome.

Roma bene

1971

Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia poster
7.3

In Italy, a dying woman tells her granddaughter that she hid her treasure many years ago in Russia, in the city of Leningrad. As more people learn about it, they head to Leningrad to find the lion where it is rumoured to be buried.

Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia

1974

Confessions of a Lady Cop poster
6.0

Gianna Amicucci works in the house of the head of her hometown police force and enters the academy with a kickback from him. She is a beautiful woman (she generously sheds clothes during the film) and has to overcome her male colleagues prejudices, but she gains their respect through a series of brilliant operations.

Confessions of a Lady Cop

1976

Lady Caliph poster
5.5

La Califfa's husband was killed during the strikes so she takes the side of the strikers. Her conflict with the plant owner Doverdo gradually turns into a love relationship.

Lady Caliph

1970

Policewoman poster
5.6

A young policewoman discovers an ecological scandal and must face the corruption in the Milan Police department.

Policewoman

1974

The Schoolmate poster
5.2

Lilli Carati plays a high school student being pursued by a very persistent young man in this Italian sex-comedy

The Schoolmate

1977

The Sunday Woman poster
6.5

Police commissioner Santamaria is investigating the murder of the ambiguous architect Mr. Garrone. The investigations soon drive him into the Torino's high society. Santamaria suspect Anna Carla and at the same time falls in love for her. Lello is the lover of Massimo, Anna Carla’s gay friend. He is following another direction in order to find out the truth, and his results are confusing the Policeman. But another murder happens...

The Sunday Woman

1975

Black Turin poster
5.3

Mino and Lello, two sons of a worker wrongly accused of murder, try to find out evidence of his innocence and begin to investigate mafia business in Torino.

Black Turin

1972

The Birds, the Bees and the Italians poster
7.1

An anthology presents three storylines, all set in the Italian town of Treviso: A husband pretends to be impotent as a cover for having an affair; a bank clerk abandons his wife for his mistress, but the rest of the town's husbands become jealous and unite to conspire against them; and local men all seduce a promiscuous young woman, but when her father eventually reveals that she is underage, they all face prosecution for statutory rape.

The Birds, the Bees and the Italians

1966

The Dress Rehearsal poster
5.7

In La prova generale, Carlo (Carlo Cecchi) interviews with a tape machine and a microphone his young lover while the two wander in the beautiful splendour of a wood on the edge of the city.

The Dress Rehearsal

1967

Italian Sex poster
4.8

A sexy graduate student is giving her thesis presentation, which creates quite a stir since it reveals that she has just posed as a prostitute for several months to do sociological research for her thesis. She relates various stories of her experiences to her salivating thesis committee and a large audience of curious on-lookers.

Italian Sex

1974

The Maniacs poster
5.0

An anthology of brief comic sketches based on manias, mainly sexual, featuring several figures of Italian society.

The Maniacs

1964

Emma Hamilton poster
4.4

In the second half of the 18th century, the young shepherdess Emma accidentally catches the eye of the English painter George Romney. She becomes his model in London, where she also has several love affairs. After she is temporarily forced to work as a prostitute, she marries the much older Lord William Hamilton, who is stationed as British ambassador in Naples. There she meets Admiral Nelson again, whom Emma, now Lady Hamilton, had met years before...

Emma Hamilton

1968