VALLI, ROMOLO

born , Feb. 7, 1925, Reggio Emilia, Italy died Feb. 1, 1980, Rome Italian actor who appeared in leading stage roles and won many awards for his work in motion pictures. He was also well known as a theatre manager and founded the Compagnia dei Giovani with his friend Giorgio de Lullo in 1954. Valli's first major success came in the early 1950s at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, and he went on to play in works by classical and modern dramatists. He toured in London and Paris and managed the Spoleto Festival until 1978. Valli had roles in many films, including Luchino Visconti's Il Gattopardo (1963; The Leopard) and Death in Venice (1971), Vittorio De Sica's Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini (1970; The Garden of the Finzi-Continis), and Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900 (1975). He was appearing in a new play with his company I Giovani del Teatro Elisio when he was killed in an automobile accident.