Graduated from the National Academy of Dramatic Arts
Impersonator, comedian and actress Sabina Guzzanti is celebrating her 60th birthday today. She was born in Rome on July 25, 1963, the daughter of journalist and former parliamentarian Paolo Guzzanti and Germana Antonucci, the older sister of Corrado Guzzanti and Caterina Guzzanti. After graduating from the Orazio High School in Rome, she graduated in 1985 from the National Academy of Dramatic Arts. “An important school between strengths and weaknesses – Guzzanti told Corriere in 2022 –. I had great teachers, for example Luca Ronconi: he crushed you with his limitless knowledge, he enabled you to listen and you understood that you know nothing at all. But it must also be said that it was in the 80’s and although the Academy was based on a classic, traditional theatrical form, from then on avant-garde and experimentation were all the rage…among the many disruptive characters, Carmelo Bene».
The Secret Language
The three Guzzanti brothers – Sabina, Corrado and Caterina – are very close. Sabina told Corriere: “When we get together at home, and that happens quite often, something strange happens: we start talking in our own way, a kind of secret language, very quickly, jerkily.” Only we understand it, a matter of vibrations. And then we burst out laughing like three crazy people.”
The first imitation
They were Valeria Marini, Silvio Berlusconi, Massimo D’Alema, Lucia Annunziata, Giorgia Meloni, Oriana Fallaci (and others). Throughout her career, Sabina Guzzanti has mimicked many characters, including journalists, politicians and stars from the entertainment world: “I used to do impersonations because I had to work, I wasn’t always confident that I knew how to do them,” she told Corriere a few months ago. It all started with Rita Levi Montalcini. I was in the kitchen, heard her on TV and started singing her voice. My partner at the time came up wide-eyed and said, “But you’re the same.” And that’s how I started.”
When he met Moana Pozzi
She made Sabina Guzzanti’s TV debut in 1987 with Enzo Trapani’s show “Profimimamente non stop” on Rai 1. The following year Antonio Ricci called her for “Matrjoska” on Italia 1. The cast of the show, which was then censored and turned into The Phoenix Arab, also starred Moana Pozzi (the actress would later emulate her in Avanzi). “She was beautiful,” Guzzanti told Corriere. One day I approached her to talk to her, just to start a conversation, and she looked me up and down like you look at a nobody. Then he left without saying a word.
On TV with Serena Dandini
Sabina Guzzanti rose to fame in the 1990s with La TV delle bambini and other satirical shows by Serena Dandini (“Sorry for the interrupt”, “Tunnel” and “Avanzi”, all on Rai 3). “Rai3 was a laboratory for new things in the 90s. The second night was a space for experimentation, where you could take risks,” Guzzanti told Corriere in 2016. At the end of the decade, Guzzanti took part in other satirical programs aired on Rai 2: Pippo Chennedy Show, La Posta del Cuore and L’ottavo nano. In 2018 she returned to work with Dandini in Girls’ TV – The States General 1988-2018.
The Raiot case
In November 2003, Sabina Guzzanti returned to television with “Raiot – Weapons of Mass Distraction” on Rai 3. After the first episode, the show was canceled and the actress was sued by Mediaset for “very serious lies and insinuations” (the lawsuit was later dropped and Mediaset’s allegations were ruled unfounded). From that moment Guzzanti, expelled from Rai, left television and devoted himself more to cinema and theater. “You know who was so nice to me when the show ended? Milo Manara. He made a portrait of me sitting on horseback like Joan of Arc,” Guzzanti told Corriere a few months ago.
director
In 2002, Sabina Guzzanti made her first feature film, “Bimba – A Star Is Cloned”. Three years later, in 2005, he produced, wrote and directed the documentary Viva Zapatero!, which screened at the Venice Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival. In 2006, the film won the Silver Ribbon for Best Documentary. Guzzanti then shot The Reasons for the Lobster (2007) and the documentaries Draquila – L’Italia che trema (2010), Franca, la prima (2011) and The Negotiation (2014), the latter about relations between the state and the mafia. In 2021, “Spin Time – What a fight for democracy!”, a film about the squatted building in Via Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, was released. “I suddenly turned around and got over the suspicion,” he told Corriere. Professions are not open at all. There was a process of coming towards myself to accept. Everyone gave me different versions and backgrounds on each issue and situation. Then I got into a kind of high and took notes.”
controversy and controversy
Sabina Guzzanti took part in the No Cav Day (demonstration in Piazza Navona in Rome against the provisions of the Berlusconi IV government in the field of justice) on July 8, 2008 and debated the role of the Catholic Church in Italy, the work of Berlusconi and the appointment of Mara Carfagna as Minister for Equal Opportunities. Her on-stage speeches sparked much controversy, and on September 11, Guzzanti was placed on the register of suspects and accused of contempt for Pope Ratzinger (Angelino Alfano, then Minister of Justice, did not give the necessary authorization to proceed in the event of contempt or contempt for a foreign head of state). For the words spoken about Mara Carfagna, Guzzanti was sued by her for defamation (in 2012 she was sentenced to compensation of 40,000 euros).
Two novels
In 2021 Sabina Guzzanti published her debut novel: «2119. The Defeat of the Sapiens». “I wrote for the cinema, for the theatre. But this story was too complex to end in a movie and we needed a novel. It always seemed difficult to write one. And indeed it is,” he told Corriere della Sera. The second novel was published in May 2023: «ANonniMus – old revolutionaries against young robots».
private life
Very little has always been known about Sabina Guzzanti’s private life. She has been linked to actor and singer David Riondino in the past: “We have been together for many years. A beautiful and complex love, he is cultured and kind. A long complicated story, but today we are very good friends.” In 1995 Guzzanti took part in the Sanremo Festival with him and the group La Riserva Indiana (Sandro Curzi, Nichi Vendola, Mario Capanna, Antonio Ricci, Daria Bignardi, Remo Remotti, Ermete Realacci, Chicco Testa, Marco Giusti, David Riondino, Orsetta De Rossi, Paolo Pietrangeli, Bruno Voglino and Milo Manara). competed among the champions with the song “Troppo sole” (this year). The competition was won by Giorgia with “Come saprei”.