Editing Roberto Benigni (section)

==Early life==
Benigni was born on 27 October 1952 in Manciano La Misericordia (a ''[[frazione]]'' of [[Castiglion Fiorentino]]), Tuscany, the son of Isolina Papini (1919–2004), a fabric maker, and Luigi Benigni (1919–2004), a bricklayer, carpenter, and farmer.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Waxman |first=Sharon |date=1998-11-01 |title=EMBRACING 'LIFE' IN DEATH CAMPS |language=en-US |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1998/11/01/embracing-life-in-death-camps/668c73c3-4480-4045-9f87-5d4438d9d1e6/ |access-date=2023-05-13 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=28 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828023550/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1998/11/01/embracing-life-in-death-camps/668c73c3-4480-4045-9f87-5d4438d9d1e6/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He has three sisters: Bruna (born 1945), Albertina (born 1947) and Anna (born 1948). He was raised [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] and served as an [[Altar server|altar boy]];<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Lipman|first=Steve|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-22134181.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104101101/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-22134181.html|archive-date=2012-11-04|title=When Tragedy, Comedy Meet: Italian actor-director Roberto Benigni|magazine=The Jewish Week|date=1998-10-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-22133891.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104101109/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-22133891.html|archive-date=2012-11-04|title=Is There Humor in the Holocaust? Roberto Benigni's bittersweet answer|location=New York|magazine=Jewish Exponent|date=1998-11-05}}</ref> later in his life he became an atheist,<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Bullaro|editor-first=Grace Russo|title=Beyond "Life is Beautiful": Comedy and Tragedy in the Cinema of Roberto Benigni|location=Leicester|publisher=Troubador Publishing|date=1 January 2005|page=27|isbn=1-904744-83-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MOdyAeuPqjUC&q=atheist&pg=PA27|access-date=29 May 2022|archive-date=29 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220529155745/https://books.google.com/books?id=MOdyAeuPqjUC&pg=PA27&q=atheist|url-status=live}}</ref> but then resumed his interest in religious topics, such as the [[Ten Commandments]] and the [[Song of Songs]], and finally returned to practicing [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=CNA |title='Life is Beautiful' actor Roberto Benigni meets the pope |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253008/photos-life-is-beautiful-actor-roberto-benigni-meets-the-pope |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Catholic News Agency |language=en |archive-date=8 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208193903/https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253008/photos-life-is-beautiful-actor-roberto-benigni-meets-the-pope |url-status=live }}</ref>

His first experiences as a theatre actor took place in 1971, in [[Prato]]. During that autumn he moved to Rome where he took part in some experimental theatre shows, some of which he also directed. In 1975, Benigni had his first theatrical success with ''Cioni Mario di Gaspare fu Giulia'', written by [[Giuseppe Bertolucci]]. Benigni studied clown under [[Philippe Gaulier]] at [[École Philippe Gaulier]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cavendish |first1=Domenic |title=Before Borat: Meet the Anti-PC Clown who Taught Sacha Baron Cohen to be Funny |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/borat-meet-anti-pc-french-clown-taught-sacha-baron-cohen-funny/ |website=www.telegraog.co.uk |publisher=The Telegraph |access-date=1 June 2025}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web |last1=Logan |first1=Brian |title=The Man who made James Corden funny |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2011/jun/08/celebrate-comic-theatre-unsung-heroes |website=www.theguardian.com |publisher=The Guardian |access-date=1 June 2025}}</ref>

Benigni became widely known in Italy in the 1970s for a television series called ''Onda Libera'', on [[Rai 2]], produced by [[Renzo Arbore]], in which he interpreted the satirical piece ''The Hymn of the Body Purged'' (''L'inno del corpo sciolto'', a [[scatology|scatological]] song about the joys of [[defecation]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Celli|first=Carlo|title=The Divine Comic: The Cinema of Roberto Benigni|location=Lanham, MD|publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2001|page=[https://archive.org/details/divinecomiccinem00cell/page/9 9]|isbn=0-8108-4000-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/divinecomiccinem00cell/page/9}}</ref> A great scandal for the time, the series was suspended due to [[censorship]].<ref>{{cite web |title=La storia della foto di Benigni e Berlinguer|language=it|trans-title=The story of Benigni and Berlinguer's photo|date=25 May 2012|url=https://www.ilpost.it/2012/05/25/la-storia-della-foto-di-benigni-e-berlinguer/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622175746/https://www.ilpost.it/2012/05/25/la-storia-della-foto-di-benigni-e-berlinguer/ |website=Il Post|archive-date=22 June 2019}}</ref> His first film was 1977's ''[[Berlinguer, I Love You]]'' (''Berlinguer ti voglio bene''), also by Bertolucci.

His popularity increased with ''[[L'altra domenica]]'' (1976–1979), another TV show of Arbore's in which Benigni portrayed a lazy film critic who never watches the films he's asked to review. [[Bernardo Bertolucci]] then cast him in a small speechless role as a window upholsterer in the film ''[[La Luna (1979 film)|La Luna]]'' which had limited American distribution due to its subject matter.