The actor Giorgio Bracardi, who played the famous bird-man Scarpantibus, has died
He was a musician, singer and comic actor
The musician, singer and comic actor Giorgio Bracardi has died at the age of 93. The news was announced by his family. The famous ‘Uccellaccio del Nicaragua’ Scarpantibus, the petulant journalist Max Vinella from Alto Gradimento, had been in a care home in Fiano Romano after breaking his femur last spring.
Born in Rome on 3 May 1933, Bracardi grew up in the world of show business. His father was one of the first managers of the Salone Margherita in Rome; his mother, Edvige, was a soprano and his father, Glauco, a tenor; all five of their children were brought up with a love of music and learnt to play an instrument: Giorgio was a pianist and later became a composer; he also took part in the Sanremo Festival as a songwriter. However, Bracardi became a very popular artist following *Alto Gradimento*, the radio programme he had created with Renzo Arbore, Gianni Boncompagni and Mario Marenco. He had also made his television debut with Arbore on *Quelli della notte* in 1985, but later appeared on *Pronto, chi gioca?* hosted by Enrica Bonaccorti and Giancarlo Magalli, and in 1989 he hosted and starred in *Chiappala chiappala* on Rai 2. In 1995, he moved to Mediaset, joining Striscia la Notizia in the role of Silvio Berlusconi’s fictional spokesperson, Lucio Smentisco. In 2001, he was one of the leading actors in Marco Giusti’s *Stracult* on Rai 2. Bracardi also provided the voice of Cattivik in the animated series broadcast by Mediaset in 2008.
