Umberto Orsini

A familiar figure in Italian cinema, Umberto Orsini took the traditional route from the theater to the screen--and back again. United States audiences might recognize Orsini most from his appearances in several noted international successes. The most celebrated of these is probably Federico Fellini's surreal classic "La Dolce Vita" (1960); Orsini had an uncredited but memorable cameo helping an actress disrobe. In other European fare that crossed international borders, the actor put in a pair of appearances in two sequels in the popular softcore film series "Emmanuelle," playing the title character's husband in both "Emmanuelle II" (1975) and "Emmanuelle III" (1977). He was also one of many cameos (as "The Big Guy") in the star-stuffed "Candy" (1968), an odd 1960s-flavored sex romp about a comely female alien that lands on earth. In the dramatic sphere, Orsini had a meaty role in "The Damned," Luchino Visconti's 1969 saga about a rich and doomed German family during the Nazi era. He played Herbert Thalmann, a key executive in the family's company, who suffers for his anti-Nazi sentiments.