---
name: "Paolo Stoppa"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/paolo-stoppa"
fi1m_id: "paolo-stoppa"
imdb_id: "nm0832375"
tmdb_id: 4962
wikidata_id: "Q1056349"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "6 June 1906"
died: "1 May 1988"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 86
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-26T15:00:26.376648+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Paolo Stoppa

## Identity

Paolo Stoppa

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/paolo-stoppa
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** paolo-stoppa
- **IMDb ID:** nm0832375
- **TMDB ID:** 4962
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1056349
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Stoppa, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1056349, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0832375/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4962

Actor. Born 6 June 1906 in Rome, Italy. Died 1 May 1988.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 6 June 1906, Rome, Italy
- **Died:** 1 May 1988
- **Active:** 1963–1968
- **Also known as:** Паоло Стоппа
- **Frequently works with:** [Claudia Cardinale](https://film.one/person/claudia-cardinale.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 86, as actor, over 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 3, History 1, Western 1
- **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $14m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Stoppa, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1056349, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0832375/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/4962

## Streaming the US now

- **Pluto TV:** [*Becket*](https://film.one/film/becket.md) (79)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Paolo Stoppa

> Paolo Stoppa spent fifty years as the third or fourth name on Italian cast lists, a rasping, ironic presence. In the one scene we can vouch for, he turns a papal audience into a market haggle, and it is the funniest thing in the film.

Halfway through *Becket* (1964), Richard Burton's archbishop is taken away from Peter O'Toole's Henry and the film goes quiet with him. Then it reaches Pope Alexander III and Cardinal Zambelli, played by Paolo Stoppa and Gino Cervi, and the two of them haggle over Becket like traders over a catch. Peter Glenville's film is handsome and talky and slow through its second half, and this is one of only two moments when it gets up and moves. We laughed, properly, and the reason is Stoppa's decision to play the Pope not as a holy man weighing a soul but as a man weighing a price. It is a small scene. It is one of the liveliest in the film.

That is what he did, and he did it for a long time. He came from the Rome stage, where he began in 1927, went into films in the early 1930s and spent that decade and the next in comedies. After the war he formed a theatre partnership with his wife, Rina Morelli, and the director Luchino Visconti, and Visconti and Vittorio De Sica gave him his best film parts: Rappi in *Miracle in Milan* (1951), Cerri in *Rocco and His Brothers* (1960), Don Calogero Sedara in *The Leopard* (1963). He made around 194 films before stopping in 1983, and in between he dubbed American actors into Italian, which tells you something about the voice.

In *Once Upon a Time in the West* (1968) he is Sam, and the honest thing to say is that we did not single him out. Leone's film is 166 minutes of faces, pauses and Ennio Morricone, and it does not want a character actor to be busy. It wants him to be there, and he is.

The reservation, and it is barely one, is that he was a character player and never a lead, so his best work sits inside other people's films, in scenes rather than in whole performances. We have not reviewed *The Leopard*, so we will not judge Don Calogero Sedara at length, but it is the part people name first and the one to seek out. Start with *Becket*, wait for the cardinals, and watch him work out what an archbishop is worth.

## Biography

Paolo Stoppa (6 June 1906 – 1 May 1988) was an Italian actor and dubber. Born in Rome, he began his stage career in 1927 and appeared in films from 1932. He is best known for his work with director Luchino Visconti, alongside his wife, actress Rina Morelli.

His notable film roles include Cerri in *Rocco and His Brothers* (1960), Don Calogero Sedara in *The Leopard* (1963), Sam in *Once Upon a Time in the West* (1968) and Pope Alexander III in *Becket* (1964). Stoppa also worked extensively as a voice dubber for Italian releases of films starring actors such as Fred Astaire, Richard Widmark and Kirk Douglas.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Once Upon a Time in the West* (1968), Fi1m 91, as Sam — [page](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-the-west.md)
- *Becket* (1964), Fi1m 79, as Pope Alexander III — [page](https://film.one/film/becket.md)
- *The Leopard* (1963), Fi1m 88, as Don Calogero Sedara — [page](https://film.one/film/the-leopard.md)

## Complete filmography (169)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Heads I Win, Tails You Lose* (1982), as il nonno
- *My Friends Act II* (1982), as Savino Capogreco
- *Tomorrow We Dance* (1982), as Padre di Mariangela
- *The Marquis of Grillo* (1981), as Papa Pio VII
- *The Payoff* (1978), as Don Michele Miletti
- *Beach House* (1977), as Nonno
- *Nerone* (1977), as San Pietro
- *The bitter case of the Baroness of Carini* (1975), series, as Don Ippolito
- *Rookies Go to War* (1974), as Le Colonel
- *Right You Are (if you think so)* (1974), as Signor Ponza
- *Rugantino* (1973), as Mastro Titta
- *Jus primae noctis* (1972), as The pope
- *Il giudice e il suo boia* (1972), series, Actor
- *I Buddenbrook* (1971), series, as Jean Buddenbrook
- *The Adventures of Gerard* (1970), as Santarem, Count of Morales
- *The Libertine* (1968), as Professor Zauri
- *Once Upon a Time in the West* (1968), as Sam — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-the-west.md)
- *Il marito è mio e l'ammazzo quando mi pare* (1968), as Doctor Sperenzoni
- *After the Fox* (1966), as Polio
- *Male Companion* (1964), as Professor Gaetano
- *Behold a Pale Horse* (1964), as Pedro
- *The Visit* (1964), as Doctor
- *Becket* (1964), as Pope Alexander III — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/becket.md)
- *The Leopard* (1963), as Don Calogero Sedara — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/the-leopard.md)
- *The Shortest Day* (1963), as Padre di Dino
- *The Steppe* (1962), Actor
- *Boccaccio '70* (1962), as Lawyer Alcamo (segment "Il lavoro") (uncredited)
- *The Fabiani Affair* (1962), as Graziani
- *The Last Judgment* (1961), as Giorgio
- *Vanina Vanini* (1961), as Asdrubale Vanini
- *The Joy of Living* (1961), as Hairdresser
- *The Menace* (1961), as Cousin
- *Viva l'Italia!* (1961), as Nino Bixio
- *From a Roman Balcony* (1960), as Rag. Alberto Moglie
- *Rocco and His Brothers* (1960), as Cerri
- *Escape by Night* (1960), as Prince Alessandro Antoniani
- *La contessa azzurra* (1960), as Don Peppino Razzi
- *Three Etc.'s and the Colonel* (1960), as Le marquis
- *Carthage in Flames* (1960), as Astarito
- *Gastone* (1960), as Achille
- *The Law* (1959), as Tonio
- *È arrivata la parigina* (1958), Actor
- *Holiday Island* (1957), as Advocate Appicciato
- *Oh! Sabella* (1957), as Avvocato Mancuso
- *Miracles of Thursday* (1957), as Don Salvador
- *A Mink Coat* (1956), as Russo
- *Uncle Hyacynth* (1956), as Restorer
- *Girls of Today* (1955), as Giuseppe Bardelotti
- *Destinazione Piovarolo* (1955), as Gorini
- *Il padrone sono me* (1955), as Mingòn
- *The Miller's Beautiful Wife* (1955), as Gardunia
- *La bella di Roma* (1955), as Oreste
- *Il Conte Aquila* (1955), as Principe di Metternich
- *Are We Men or Corporals?* (1955), as Il caporale
- *Scampolo 53* (1955), Actor
- *A Woman Alone* (1955), as L'inquilino del piano di sopra
- *The Shadow* (1954), as Michele
- *The Cheerful Squadron* (1954), as Flick
- *The Gold of Naples* (1954), as Don Peppino, the widower (segment Pizza on Credit)
- *House of Ricordi* (1954), as Giovanni Ricordi
- *My Seven Little Sins* (1954), Actor
- *Uomini ombra* (1954), as Antiquario Bertrand
- *The Beautiful Otero* (1954), as Frédéric
- *Prima di sera* (1954), as Paolo Bancani
- *Neapolitan Carousel* (1954), as Salvatore Esposito
- *Symphony of Love* (1954), as Calafatti
- *The Woman Who Came from the Sea* (1954), as Console Italiano
- *Daughters of Destiny* (1954), as Nicephore (segment "Lysistrata")
- *The Count of Monte Cristo* (1954), as Bertuccio
- *The Love of a Woman* (1953), as Le Curé
- *The Most Wanted Man* (1953), as Tony Fallone
- *I'll See You on the Balcony* (1953), as Voce (uncredited)
- *Empty Eyes* (1953), as Egisto Palmucci
- *The Return of Don Camillo* (1953), as Marchetti
- *Storms* (1953), as Amedeo Cini
- *It's Never Too Late* (1953), as Antonio Trabbi
- *Puccini* (1953), as Giocondo
- *Indiscretion of an American Wife* (1953), as Traveling Salesman
- *Voice of Silence* (1953), as Publisher
- *Gioventù alla sbarra* (1953), as Il giudice Benni
- *La passeggiata* (1953), as preside del collegio
- *Sunday Heroes* (1952), as Piero
- *Beauties of the Night* (1952), as Direktor der Oper
- *Dogs and Cats* (1952), as don Cosimo
- *Times Gone By* (1952), as Guido's father (segment "L'Idillio")
- *Dad Becomes Mom* (1952), as Lo psicanalista
- *The City Stands Trial* (1952), as Delegato di polizia Perrone
- *Il tallone di Achille* (1952), as Lo Strozzino Serafino
- *Wanda the Sinner* (1952), as Marco
- *Wife for a Night* (1952), as Agusto
- *The Seven Deadly Sins* (1952), as Mr. Alvaro (segment "L'Avarice et La Colère")
- *Rome 11:00* (1952), as Impiegato
- *The Cape of Hope* (1951), as Simon Liakim
- *Miracle in Milan* (1951), as Rappi
- *Abbiamo vinto!* (1951), as Augusto Fabriano
- *Sambo* (1950), as Manuel, il pittore
- *Land der Sehnsucht* (1950), Actor
- *The Thief of Venice* (1950), as Marco
- *The King's Guerrillas* (1950), as Peppino Luciani
- *Il principe ribelle* (1950), as Emissario Spagnolo
- *High Time* (1950), as Rocchetti
- *The Beauty of the Devil* (1950), as Official
- *Fabiola* (1949), as Manlio
- *Maracatumba... ma non è una rumba!* (1949), as Miguel Martinez, l'impresario
- *I peggiori anni della nostra vita* (1949), as Ninetto Traballa
- *Che tempi!* (1948), as Alessandro Raffo
- *I cavalieri dalle maschere nere (I beati paoli)* (1948), as nobile balbuziente
- *The Opium Den* (1947), as Amico di Za-la-mort
- *Aquila Nera* (1946), as Un bandito
- *Un americano in vacanza* (1946), as Augusto
- *Canto, ma sottovoce...* (1946), as Fabrizio
- *Biraghin* (1946), as Osvaldo Lanza di Robbio
- *Io t'ho incontrata a Napoli* (1946), Actor
- *Farewell, My Beautiful Naples* (1946), as Ruocco
- *Che distinta famiglia!* (1945), as James
- *Crazy Quartet* (1945), as Filippo
- *Finalmente sì* (1944), as Rossi
- *Il fiore sotto gli occhi* (1944), as Arrigo Santucci
- *Ti conosco, mascherina!* (1943), as Luigi
- *Apparizione* (1943), as Alberto
- *The Last Wagon* (1943), Actor
- *Gli assi della risata* (1943), Actor
- *Our Dreams* (1943), as Oreste
- *4 girls dream* (1943), Actor
- *Sant'Elena, piccola isola* (1943), as Il medico curante di Napoleone
- *Skyscrapers* (1943), as Frank Millstone
- *Incontri di notte* (1943), as Francesco
- *Gente dell’aria* (1943), as Il tenente Guido Landi
- *Il nostro prossimo* (1943), as Il campanaro
- *Music on the Run* (1943), as Fogliatti, il produttore
- *Giorni felici* (1943), as Bernardo
- *Dove andiamo, signora?* (1942), Actor
- *Acque di primavera* (1942), as Doctor Berni
- *Il romanzo di un giovane povero* (1942), as Enrico di Bevallan
- *Non ti pago!* (1942), as L'avvocato Lorenzo Strumillo
- *Don Cesare of Bazan* (1942), as Sancho
- *Gioco pericoloso* (1942), as Giovanni
- *La signorina* (1942), as L' amate di Fani
- *A che servono questi quattrini?* (1942), as Marchetiello
- *Rossini* (1942), as Tottola
- *La regina di Navarra* (1942), Actor
- *If I Was Honest* (1942), as barone Paolo Vareghi
- *Se non son matti non li vogliamo* (1941), as Il conte Giuseppe Bardonazzi
- *La famiglia Brambilla in vacanza* (1941), as Gastone
- *Princess Cinderella* (1941), as Bonaventura
- *Divieto di sosta* (1941), Actor
- *The Iron Crown* (1941), as Trifilli
- *L'ultimo ballo* (1941), as Felix
- *L'allegro fantasma* (1941), as Gigetto
- *Giuliano de' Medici* (1941), as Volpino
- *Il sogno di tutti* (1940), as il signore genovese
- *Eternal Melody* (1940), as Haibl
- *Una famiglia impossibile* (1940), Actor
- *La canzone rubata* (1940), as il maggiordomo Alfredo
- *Amami, Alfredo!* (1940), as Cecè
- *Trappola d'amore* (1940), as Il finto poliziotto
- *Pazza di gioia* (1940), as Alvaro Montero
- *Le sorprese del vagone letto* (1940), as Il marchese Gino
- *Ricchezza senza domani* (1940), as Buby D'Alfia
- *An Adventure of Salvator Rosa* (1939), as Il secondo contadino
- *L'amore si fa così* (1939), as Zaccaria Poussier
- *You Love Me, I Love You* (1939), as Eugenio Sinibaldi
- *Frenesia* (1939), as Bobby
- *The Dream of Butterfly* (1939), Actor
- *The Lady in White* (1938), as Direttore d'albergo
- *Marcella* (1937), Actor
- *Lorenzino de' Medici* (1935), as Giomo, soldato del Duca Alessandro
- *The Serpent's Fang* (1935), as Andry, l'aiutante dell'ispettore
- *The King's Jester* (1935), as Filuccio

## Gallery

- ![Paolo Stoppa](https://film.one/media/person/102518/gallery-6814459f7836.png) Paolo Stoppa — Film diretto da Carmine Gallone e prodotto da Excelsa Film, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Biraghin_%28film_1946%29_Paolo_Stoppa_%28cropped%29.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Lazio (Italy), 1975. From left to right: producer Arturo La Pegna, actor Paolo Stoppa and director Daniele D'Anza in a break during the shooting of the televisi](https://film.one/media/person/102518/gallery-80b8ba28b44a.jpg) Lazio (Italy), 1975. From left to right: producer Arturo La Pegna, actor Paolo Stoppa and director Daniele D'Anza in a break during the shooting of the televisi — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/L%27amaro_caso_della_baronessa_di_Carini_%281975%29_-_La_Pegna%2C_Stoppa_and_D%27Anza.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Italian actor Paolo Stoppa (1967)](https://film.one/media/person/102518/gallery-d35fcd5c76f9.jpg) Italian actor Paolo Stoppa (1967) — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Paolo_Stoppa_1967.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Group portrait: director Luchino Visconti with Rina Morelli, Paolo Stoppa, and other actors performing in the comedy L'impresario delle Smirne by Carlo Goldoni. (1957)](https://film.one/media/person/102518/gallery-dbe7c2440ef6.jpg) Group portrait: director Luchino Visconti with Rina Morelli, Paolo Stoppa, and other actors performing in the comedy L'impresario delle Smirne by Carlo Goldoni. (1957) — Unknown authorUnknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/Photo_Group_portrait._director_Luchino_Visconti_with_Rina_Morelli%2C_Paolo_Stoppa%2C_and_other_actors_performing_in_the_comedy_L%27impresario_delle_Smirne_by_Carlo_Goldoni._1957_-_Touring_Club_Italiano_04_2378.jpg/1280px-thumbnail.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Paolo Stoppa](https://film.one/media/person/102518/gallery-00b58417b1bd.jpg) Paolo Stoppa — Image via TMDB
- ![Paolo Stoppa](https://film.one/media/person/102518/gallery-0894ee413a7a.jpg) Paolo Stoppa — Image via TMDB
- ![L'anonima Roylott film del 1936 diretto da Raffaello Matarazzo. Foto di scena con da sin Olga Solbelli, Paolo Stoppa, Giulio Donadio, Cesarina Gheraldi e Camill (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/102518/gallery-628286c8bf04.jpg) L'anonima Roylott film del 1936 diretto da Raffaello Matarazzo. Foto di scena con da sin Olga Solbelli, Paolo Stoppa, Giulio Donadio, Cesarina Gheraldi e Camill (2017) — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Roylott1936_foto-scena.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/paolo-stoppa