Italian comedy great Gigi Proietti dies

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 2 - Much-loved Italian comedian and cinema and theatre actor Gigi Proietti has died, his family said on Monday, his 80th birthday.
    Proietti had been admitted to hospital a few days ago and passed away after suffering a major heart attack, sources said.
    One of his most memorable works is the film Febbre da Cavallo, an Italian cinema classic in which he gives a hilarious portrayal of a luckless gambling addict.
    Although best-known for his comedy work, the Rome native was also highly cultured and, among other things, he was the director of the Globe Theatre, a reconstruction of Shakespeare's theatre in the Italian capital.
    Sergio Mattarella led the tributes to the actor.
    "It is with great pain that I learned of the death of Gigi Proietti on his 80th birthday," the head of State said in a statement.
    "A multifaceted, versatile actor, director, organizer, voice-over actor, mentor to generations of actors and natural heir to Ettore Petrolini, he was the genuine expression of the Roman spirit.
    "He combined great culture and exceptional expressive capability, the fruit of intense work on himself, with overwhelming charm and a natural bonhomie that made him the favourite of the public of all ages.
    "I wish to remember him as a lucid, passionate intellectual, who was always attentive and sensitive to the needs of the weakest and to society's renewal". (ANSA).