Massimo Troisi would be 70 years old: the beginnings in a parish theater, the censorship in Sanremo, the friendship with the protagonist of «Flashdance», 20 (+1) secrets

Massimo Troisi was born on 19 February 1953 in San Giorgio a Cremano. Pulcinella without a mask, “king of the asynchronous” (as his lifelong friend Lello Arena defined him), would have celebrated his 70th birthday today, if his “crazy” heart hadn’t taken it away from us on June 4, 1994. We want to remember him with a collection of anecdotes and curiosities between life and career, starting from one of the most famous sketches of the Smorfia (the comic trio which the actor and director was part of, with which he met success), “Nativity”: Troisi dressed the role of the humble wife of a fisherman mistaken by the Archangel Gabriel/Lello Arena and by a Cherubino/Enzo Decaro for the Virgin Mary. «He announced! He announced! You Marì, Marì, you are the son of Salvatore, Gabriele has given you the good news». The character of the Archangel Gabriel – with his famous exclamation – was inspired by the priest who taught religion to Troisi in elementary school. Today “Nativity” is a comedy classic, but at the time the sketch was accused of contempt of the state religion.