Biography
Salvatore Cascio, also known as Totò Cascio, is an Italian actor. Born on 8 November 1979 in Palazzo Adriano, Sicily, he first appeared on television as a child on the Maurizio Costanzo Show. At the age of nine he made his screen debut in Giuseppe Tornatore’s Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988), playing the young Salvatore 'Totò' Di Vita.
The role brought him international recognition and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, making him the youngest recipient at the time. He subsequently appeared in Tornatore’s Stanno tutti bene (1990, released in English as Everybody’s Fine), playing the child Alvaro, as well as in films including Breath of Life (1990) and The Pope Must Die (1991). Cascio has retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that progressively affected his vision and led to a long hiatus from acting. He published the autobiography La gloria e la prova in 2022.
