Volpi Cup for Best Actor
The Volpi Cup (Italian: Coppa Volpi) is the principal award given to actors at the Venice Film Festival and is named in honor of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, the founder of the Venice Film Festival. The name and number of prizes have been changed several times since their introduction, ranging from two to four awards per edition and sometimes acknowledging both leading and supporting performances.
‡ - indicates the performance was also nominated for an Academy Award
Gold Medal Winners (1934)
The festival was officially competitive for the first time in 1934. The acting award was named Grande medaglia d'oro dell'Associazione Nazionale Fascista dello Spettacolo per il migliore attore (Great Gold Medal of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment for the Best Actor).
| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1932 |  Fredric March Special Award | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Dr. Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde ‡ |
| 1933 | |||
| 1934 | Wallace Beery[1] Special Award | Viva Villa! | Pancho Villa |
Volpi Cup Winners (1935–1942)
| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 |  Pierre Blanchar | Crime et châtiment | Raskolnikov |
| 1936 | Paul Muni | The Story of Louis Pasteur | Louis Pasteur ‡ |
| 1937 |  Emil Jannings | Der Herrscher | Matthias Clausen |
| 1938 |  Leslie Howard | Pygmalion | Professor Henry Higgins ‡ |
| 1939 | |||
| 1940 | |||
| 1941 |  Ermete Zacconi | Don Buonaparte | Don Geronimo Buonaparte |
| 1942 | Fosco Giachetti | Bengasi | Captain Enrico Berti |
| 1943 | |||
| 1944 | |||
| 1945 | |||
International Award Winners (1947–1950)
After a four-year hiatus caused by the war, the festival was once again competitive in 1947. The acting award in the immediate post-war period was named Premio Internazionale per il migliore attore (International Award for the Best Actor).[2][3][4][5]
| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Pierre Fresnay | Monsieur Vincent | Vincent de Paul |
| 1948 |  Ernst Deutsch | The Trial | Scharf |
| 1949 | Joseph Cotten | ’Portrait of Jennie | Eben Adams |
| 1950 | Sam Jaffe | The Asphalt Jungle | Erwin “Doc” Riedenschneider ‡ |
Volpi Cup Winners (1951–1968)
Acting Award Winners (1983–1987)
The festival was again competitive in 1980 but the acting awards given by the competition jury were not reinstated until 1983: the prizes were no longer called Coppa Volpi (Volpi Cup) but were simply referred to as Premio per il migliore attore (Best Actor Award). The winners did not receive cup-shaped awards but were instead given rectangular plaques.
| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Guy Boyd George Dzundza David Alan Grier Mitchell Lichtenstein Matthew Modine Michael Wright | Streamers | Rooney Cokes Roger Richie Billy Carlyle |
| 1984 |  Naseeruddin Shah | Paar | Naurangia |
| 1985 | Gérard Depardieu | Police | Louis Vincent Mangin |
| 1986 | Carlo Delle Piane | Regalo di Natale | Antonio Sant’Elia |
| 1987 Tie | Hugh Grant James Wilby | Maurice | Clive Durham Maurice Hall |
Volpi Cup Winners (1988–present)
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In 1988, for the first time in 20 years, the most recognizable prizes of the festival were re-established. The two acting award was officially named Coppa Volpi per la migliore interpretazione maschile (Volpi Cup for the Best Actor).[6]
Notes
- ↑ Beery received an award titled the Great Gold Medal of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment for the Best Actor"I divertimenti". La Stampa. 5 December 1934. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
- ↑ "La Magnani premiata come miglior attrice". La Stampa. 16 September 1947. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
- ↑ "Il Gran Premio ad "Amleto" di Olivier". La Stampa. 5 September 1948. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
- ↑ "L'assegnazione dei diciassette premi" (PDF). L'Unità. 2 September 1949. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
- ↑ "L'assegnazione dei premi". La Stampa. 11 September 1950. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
- ↑ "Tutti i premiati". La Stampa. 10 September 1988. Retrieved 2013-10-06.
External links
- The Venice Film Festival at the IMDb
- Coppa Volpi for best actors since 1935 from "La Biennale" website
- Enrico Lancia, I premi del cinema, Gremese Editore, 1998