Carlo Verdone recalls Purgatori, «Antinarcissus and lucid, he was an actor for me. He was very good »-Corriere.it

«You have to rest: the last time I saw him I said just like that, you have to rest. I had seen him too pale, very thin. Evidently there was already something wrong, the disease was already walking. We will miss him, everyone will miss him. I will miss him." Charles Verdone - like everyone - is surprised and shocked by the death of Andrea Purgatori, a great journalist with superfine irony, a man who knew how to alternate the rigor of the investigation with the profound lightness of satire and comedy. A Martian. As he had advocated in Fascists on Marsone of many jobs he had shared with Conrad Guzzanti who on social media remembered him like this: «One of my closest friends has died, a companion of many follies such as
The Scafroglia case, Fascists on Mars And Aniene
. A hug to all those who loved him, and there are so many».

She too was among those who loved him...
«I lose a very dear friend, whom I esteemed so much for his elegance. Andrea has always been a discreet, affectionate and generous man».

What struck you about him?
«Andrea has never put his ego in the foreground. Among journalists there are many daffodils, but he was the anti-narcissus par excellence. He was a respectable person who never looked for the gossipy scoop, rather he was always lucid and objective. He was looking for the truth: he was one of the few great Italian investigative journalists ».

How did you meet?
«In a casual and natural way, as happens in the world of cinema. I met him thanks to Marco Risi, the director, then over the years we met again many times, we spent dinners and evenings together, more than once he asked me for interviews for his program on La7. At one point, about ten years ago, I identified him as the right person for a small role in Standing room in heaven».

It was 2012. In the film, she played a successful ex-recorder who lives in the back of his vinyl store and supplements his meager income by selling memorabilia.
«Andrea came to the shop to buy Jim Morrison's belt that I kept in a display case, it was the "trademark" of my vinyl shop and I didn't want to give it away».

Why did you choose it?

«He was perfect, the right person: he represented a gentleman of my age who lived like me with musical nostalgia and was in love with that belt. He offered me any amount and in the end I - who needed money - gave in to his insistent requests for him. Andrea was very good, he made no mistakes ».

In 2016 he also took it in "We made it big", there Purgatori was a theater director.
“I liked his voice, hoarse, strong, heavy smoker, very radio voice. With his black turtlenecks he also had the physique du rôle of a theater director. In front of the camera he was self-confident, he acted with great naturalness, he was not afraid of anything ».