He was nearly 50 years old when he made his feature film debut. Some thirty years later, he is one of Italy’s most beloved character actors. Renato Carpentieri was born in 1943 in Savignano Irpino, a village in Campania. He originally set out to pursue a career in architecture but became passionate about culture and theater. During the mid-1960s and ‘70s, he helped to promote cultural events in Naples and co-founded a stage company there called Teatro dei Mutamenti where he participated as a director, playwright and actor. In 1980, he began to transition from theater to screen with two television mini-series. A decade later, he made his feature film debut in Gianni Amelio’s “Porte aperte” (Open Doors). In 1993, upon winning a Nastro d'Argento for best supporting actor for his performance in Gabriele Salvatores' "Puerto Escondido," he took on the role of Gerardo in Nanni Moretti’s cult classic “Caro Diario” (Dear Diary). The role proved to be his breakout film,
100+ YEARS OF THE GREAT ITALIAN MOVIEMAKERS