Renato Rascel
Renato Rascel (actually: Renato Ranucci; * April 27, 1912 in Turin, † January 2, 1991 in Rome ) was an Italian singer and actor. Between 1942 and 1972, he starred in 50 films, he was nicknamed il Piccoletto nazionale due to its small body size.
The son of an operetta singer and a ballet dancer he came early in contact with the theater and was also active musically. From 1933 he has been heard regularly as a performer at the Teatro Lirico in Milan. From 1942 he was discovered for the film, where he played numerous, mostly comedic roles. An outstanding work was the jacket from 1952, for which the main role, he was awarded the Nastro d' Argento.
Musically were Merci beaucoup (1953) and Arrivederci Roma ( 1955) his greatest hits. As winner of the Sanremo Festival in 1960 with the ballad Romantica he was allowed to compete in London at the Euro Vision Song Contest 1960. Here he reached eighth place. From the early 1970s he put his focus back more on music and theater.