Walter Chiari

Walter Chiari, born Walter Annicchiarico on 8 March 1924 in Verona, Italy, was an Italian stage and screen actor who worked primarily in comedy. His family had roots in Apulia. He died of a heart attack in Milan on 20 December 1991 and is buried at the Civico Mausoleo Palanti in the Cimitero Monumentale di Milano. His gravestone carries an epitaph he had once suggested to director Dino Risi: "Don't worry, I'm merely catching up with sleep."

During World War II, Chiari served with the Decima Flottiglia MAS before being drafted into the Wehrmacht, a fact that came to light only after his death. He was assigned to a German anti-aircraft unit in Normandy, where he sustained a minor wound during the D-Day fighting. He was subsequently captured and held at the American prisoner-of-war camp at Coltano.

His screen career included a notable early role in Luchino Visconti's 1951 film Bellissima, in which he appeared opposite Anna Magnani as the young lover. He went on to appear in The Little Hut (1957), Bonjour Tristesse (1958), Chimes at Midnight (1966), and The Valachi Papers (1972). During the production of The Little Hut, he began a relationship with Ava Gardner. He also starred in They're a Weird Mob (1966), the final film from the Powell and Pressburger partnership, which was based on a novel by John O'Grady. His then-girlfriend, Italian singer and actress Alida Chelli, appeared alongside him in that film. The two married in 1969 and had one son, television presenter Simone Annicchiarico, before divorcing in 1972. Chiari appeared in the Australian film Squeeze a Flower in 1970.

On stage, Chiari worked extensively in Italian musical comedy, collaborating with writers Garinei and Giovannini on productions including Buonanotte Bettina with Delia Scala in 1956, Il gufo e la gattina in 1958, and Un mandarino per Teo in 1960, the latter featuring Sandra Mondaini, Ave Ninchi, and Alberto Bonucci. He also performed in spoken theater, appearing in 1965 alongside Gianrico Tedeschi in Murray Schisgal's comedy Luv and in 1966 with Renato Rascel in Neil Simon's La strana coppia. His Broadway career brought him to New York in 1961, when he appeared in the musical The Gay Life.

In 1970, Chiari was arrested in Rome on suspicion of cocaine possession and trafficking. He was ultimately found not guilty of the trafficking charge and received a reduced sentence on the possession count, but the arrest had lasting professional consequences. Italian state television barred him from appearing, and his subsequent work was limited to minor film roles, local television, and theater engagements.