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.
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 | Best Actor | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1934 |  Wallace Beery | Viva Villa! |
Volpi Cup Winners (1935–1942)
| Year | Best Actor | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1935 |  Pierre Blanchar | Crime et Châtiment |
| 1936 | Paul Muni | The Story of Louis Pasteur |
| 1937 |  Emil Jannings | Der Herrscher |
| 1938 |  Leslie Howard | Pygmalion |
| 1939 | Not Awarded[1] | |
| 1940 | Not Awarded | |
| 1941 |  Ermete Zacconi | Don Buonaparte |
| 1942 | Fosco Giachetti | Bengasi |
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 | Best Actor | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Pierre Fresnay | Monsieur Vincent |
| 1948 |  Ernst Deutsch | The Trial |
| 1949 | Joseph Cotten | Portrait of Jennie |
| 1950 | Sam Jaffe | The Asphalt Jungle |
Volpi Cup Winners (1951–1968)
| Year | Best Actor | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Jean Gabin | La Nuit est Mon Royaume |
| 1952 | Fredric March | Death of a Salesman |
| 1953 | Henri Vilbert | Le Bon Dieu Sans Confession |
| 1954 | Jean Gabin | Air of Paris |
| Grisbi | ||
| 1955 |  Curd Jürgens | Heroes and Sinners |
| Des Teufels General | ||
| Kenneth More | The Deep Blue Sea | |
| 1956 | Bourvil | La Traversée de Paris |
| 1957 | Anthony Franciosa | A Hatful of Rain |
| 1958 | Alec Guinness | The Horse's Mouth |
| 1959 | James Stewart | Anatomy of a Murder |
| 1960 | John Mills | Tunes of Glory |
| 1961 |  Toshirō Mifune | Yojimbo |
| 1962 | Burt Lancaster | Birdman of Alcatraz |
| 1963 | Albert Finney | Tom Jones |
| 1964 | Tom Courtenay | King and Country |
| 1965 | Toshirō Mifune | Red Beard |
| 1966 | Jacques Perrin | Almost A Man |
| The Search | ||
| 1967 |  Ljubisa Samardzic | Jutro |
| 1968 | John Marley | Faces |
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.
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]
Gillo Pontecorvo, the artistic director of the festival's 1993 edition, decided that the number of Volpi Cups should be doubled:[7] the new prizes would acknowledge the performances by actors in supporting roles and were officially named Coppa Volpi per il migliore attore non protagonista (Volpi Cup for the Best Supporting Actor).[8]
| Year | Best Actor | Film | Best Supporting Actor | Film |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Fabrizio Bentivoglio | Un'anima divisa in due | Marcello Mastroianni | Un, Deux, Trois, Soleil |
| 1994 |  Xia Yu | In the Heat of the Sun | Roberto Citran | Il Toro |
Two years later, Pontecorvo chose to dismiss several prizes such as the Silver Lion and one of the Volpi Cups.[9] Starting from 1995, only three acting awards were given by the jury: one for an actor in a leading roles, one for an actress in a leading role and one for an actor or actress in a supporting role.
| Year | Best Actor | Film | Best Supporting Performer | Film |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Götz George | Der Totmacher | Ian Hart | Nothing Personal |
| 1996 |  Liam Neeson | Michael Collins | Chris Penn | The Funeral |
Notes
- ↑ "The jury of the international film festival, having acknowledged that the foreign jury members, who are living abroad, are still preventing a reunion from taking place, has decided not to award the international prizes." "La Coppa Mussolini al film Abuna Messias". La Stampa. 15 October 1939. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "A Venezia i film di Altman e Scorsese". La Repubblica. 10 April 1993. Retrieved 2013-10-06.
- ↑ "I favoriti del Leone" (PDF). L'Unità. 12 September 1993. Retrieved 2013-10-06.
- ↑ "Solo un Leone d'Oro per Venezia del '95". La Stampa. 26 November 1994. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
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
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