Ivano Marescotti died at the age of 77. Farewell to the actor by chance, anti-fascist “in heart and life”

Ivan Marescotti died on Saturday 26 March, aged 77. He was hospitalized in Ravenna, due to theaggravation of a long illness. His was a rich career, with more than 130 works, including cinema, theater and television. From Doctor Randazzo in Johnny Toothpick by Roberto Benigni to his Northern League father in I fall from the clouds by Checco Zalone, and then again the role in Jack Frusciante came out of the group and the international sets de Mr Ripley’s Talent by Anthony Minghella Hannibal by Ridley Scott e King Arthur by Antoine Fuqua.

He had retired from the stage about a year ago to take care of his acting school, the Tam Teatro Accademia Marescotti. “I have 15-20 students every year to whom I teach acting,” he said via social media. And again: «Following the example of Jack Nicholson who retired from the stage at the age of 73 (one must have a model) to enjoy my old age, I announce that I am no longer an actor». Among his latest works, Bar Giuseppe by Giulio Base who now remembers him via Twitter: «What a pain: Ivano left too soon. He will be greatly missed.”

Previously a municipal surveyor, he had become an actor by chance at the age of 40: “One day an actor friend asked me to replace him in a show,” he revealed to Corriere della Sera, «He said: you are not a professional, if you screw up nothing will happen. I made my debut without ever making a single rehearsal in my life. But then I made a very hard apprenticeship. Before Albertazzi noticed me and took me on a 5-month tour, I was almost reduced to being a bum. I ate sandwiches and slept in a sleeping bag, without a home.’

Deeply tied to his land, Romagna, a partisan father, Ivan Marescotti he has always been a man of the left. To those who interviewed him, over the years, he used to say “I was born with a PCI card”. Today the Anpi also greets him: «We sadly salute Ivano Marescotti, actor and anti-fascist by heart and life. He had recently renewed his membership in our Association with a beautiful public message. Bye Ivano, we will not forget you».

He had married Erika Leonelli, 49 years old, his pupil, in March 2022. The third marriage, for him, which he had wanted to celebrate in the Romagna dialect in Bagnacavallo, his hometown. “This is the last time,” she had said before their wedding. The proverbial “all good things come in threes” is true, but the four won’t come, I’m ruling it out. Marriage with Erika is the most beautiful. It coincides with the third time of existence and it arrives at a stage where, for me, everything has changed, since I stopped doing the acting job after 40 years».

The actor was the father of Iliad, born in 2003, from a previous relationship. To the eldest Matthias instead, he had to say goodbye several years ago. Died at the age of 44 due to a tumor, it had been the greatest mourning in Marescotti’s life. He had told it in his first autobiography of him, true facts, published in 2020. «The book ends with his death and with that of my mother», he had revealed, «There are pains that cannot be overcome. I went on stage the day of my father’s funeral and also that of Mattia. It was my mourning process. The overlapping of the audience’s laughter and my tears was incredible. But that’s where I felt closest to them, much more than next to the coffin».