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Renzo Cesana

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Renzo Cesana
File:Renzo Cesana.jpg
Born(1907-10-30)October 30, 1907
Rome, Italy
DiedNovember 8, 1970(1970-11-08) (aged 63)
Hollywood, California, United States
OccupationActor

Renzo Cesana (30 October 1907, Rome – 8 November 1970, Hollywood, California)[1][2] was an actor, writer, composer, and songwriter most famed for his title role on the American television show The Continental. He was also known as Renato Cesana.

Biography

Cesana was the grandson of Luigi Cesana, publisher of one of Rome's largest daily newspapers, Il Messaggero.[3] He emigrated to America as a screenwriter in 1929, to adapt Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer "talkies" for Italian audiences.[4][5] After a failed attempt at becoming a film star, he appeared on radio in San Francisco, then became the U.S. advertising director for a prominent Italian wine, eventually opening his own advertising agency.[6] He returned to Italy to co-write and appear in childhood friend Roberto Rossellini's film Stromboli (1950), then returned to America in 1949 to begin a film and television acting career in Hollywood.[7]

In an era when advertisers and advertising agencies played major roles in program creation and sponsorship, Cesana created The Continental as a radio program that he produced, wrote, and starred in for a Los Angeles station in 1951, where it directly followed The Lonesome Gal, in which a female disk jockey talked soothingly to male listeners. After a brief and unsuccessful run, Cesana convinced a local television station to broadcast a video version of The Continental, which was picked up by the CBS television network in 1952.

The program led to a recording contract with Capitol Records, in which the non-singer Cesana would recite the lyrics of romantic songs to a musical accompaniment. For instance, "Walk The Lonesome Night" was a big hit in which Cesana recited the lyrics along with a piano and a theater organ. It was released on the "Ultra-Lounge Vol. 7: The Crime Scene" as an extra track; but it received massive success when it was originally released.

In 1967, he appeared in That Girl, as Dr. Cessna – an "ink blot" interpreting personality analyst. On September 20, 1967, Cesana appeared in Bewitched, "Business Italian Style" (Season 4, Episode 3). He played an entrepreneur hoping to have Tate & Stephens Advertising Agency introduce Chef Romani Italian Foods to the American market.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1950 Stromboli The Priest
1950 A Lady Without Passport Asa Sestina, Deported Mobster
1950 The Sound of Fury Dr. VIdo Simone
1951 The Mark of the Renegade Father Juan
1951 The Light Touch Father Dolzi Uncredited
1952 California Conquest Fray Lindos
1958 Anna of Brooklyn Il barone Trevassi
1958 The Beautiful Legs of Sabrina James
1958 The Naked Maja Bayeu
1959 For the First Time Angelo
1959 The Moralist The Police Commissioner
1959 Hannibal
1960 The Warrior Empress Paeone
1961 Francis of Assisi Friar Uncredited
1965 The Art of Love Pepe de Winter
1966 Three on a Couch The Ambassador
1972 Original: Do Not Project Brother Dimension (final film role)

Further reading

  • "Renzo Cesana", Biography Index. Volume 2. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1953.
  • "Renzo Cesana", The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary. Third edition. New York: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, 1966.

References

  1. ^ Social Security Death Index.
  2. ^ Ancestry.com. California Death Index, 1940-1997 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, US: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000.
  3. ^ Mark Barron, "They're Asking Continental to Be Wed", The Washington Post, August 9, 1953, p. L5.
  4. ^ Passenger list, S.S. "Vulcania", Port of New York, 19 February 1929.
  5. ^ U.S. Census, 1 April 1930, State of California, County of Los Angeles, enumeration district 1253, p. 14A, family 396.
  6. ^ Mary Desjardins and Mark Williams, "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" In: Susan Merrill Squier (ed.), Communities of the Air, Duke University Press, 2003, p. 272. ISBN 978-0-8223-3095-0.
  7. ^ Passenger list, S.S. Queen Elizabeth, Port of New York, 21 November 1949.
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