De Filippo, Titina

(1898-1965)

   Actress and playwright. Illegitimate daughter of renowned Neapolitan actor Eduardo Scarpetta, and elder sister of Eduardo and Peppino De Filippo, Titina (Annunziata) began acting on stage at the age of seven. She was soon a member of the Teatro Nuovo di Napoli, performing regularly in its musical revues and variety shows. In 1931 she united with her two brothers to form the Compagnia Teatro Umoristico i De Filippo (The De Filippo Comic Theater Company), and in partnership with Peppino wrote many of the plays in the company's repertoire, the best known being Quaranta ma non li dimostra (Forty Years Old but It Doesn't Show) and Ma c'e papa (But Daddy's Here). Together with the two brothers she also appeared in films in the late 1930s, but her first significant film role was as Toto's fiery wife, Concetta, in Amleto Palermi's San Giovanni Decollato (St. John the Baptist Beheaded, 1940). After World War II, while continuing to work to great acclaim on the stage, she appeared in some 30 films, usually in strong supporting roles. However, she also gave a memorable performance playing the lead in Filumena Marturano (1951), a film adaptation of the stage play that her brother Eduardo had written for her several years earlier. In addition to playing her character roles, she also worked as a screenwriter and shared a Nastro d'argento in 1952 for her collaboration on the screenplay of Renato Castellani's Due soldi di speranza (Two Cents' Worth of Hope, 1952).

   Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema by Alberto Mira