Renato Scarpa

Renato Scarpa — Biography

Renato Scarpa spent more than fifty years in Italian cinema, racking up close to 85 screen credits between his 1969 debut and his death, and along the way took supporting parts in two international touchstones, Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now (1973) and Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). Born in Milan on September 14, 1939, he built a reputation as a dependable, instantly recognizable face rather than a leading man.

Director Nanni Moretti cast him again and again, in The Son's Room, We Have a Pope, and Mia Madre, and his other credits span Dario Argento's horror classic Suspiria to the beloved Il Postino. Late in his career he turned up in Diaz – Don't Clean Up This Blood and, in 2020, The Two Popes.

He died in Rome on December 30, 2021, at 82; colleagues and critics remembered him as one of Italian cinema's most consistent supporting players.