# Corrado Gaipa

Corrado Gaipa (13 March 1925 – 21 September 1989) was an Italian actor and voice actor.
A well known actor of Italian cinema, he was internationally known for his role as Don Tommasino in The Godfather, while his popularity in Italy was also connected to his activity as a voice dubber.

## Biography

Born in Palermo, Gaipa enrolled in the Silvio d'Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he studied for three years and performed an adaptation of the play You Can't Take It with You. He then graduated in 1946. In 1948, Gaipa joined a theatre group based in Rome and began acting in radio dramas which were broadcast in many cities across Italy such as Turin, Florence and Milan. He also appeared in many films, beginning with That Splendid November (1969). He became well known worldwide playing Don Tommasino in the 1972 film The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
While also active on stage, radio and television, he was heavily active as a voice actor and especially as a dubber: he provided the Italian voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi (portrayed by Alec Guinness) in the Star Wars original trilogy as well as Bagheera in the Italian-Language version of The Jungle Book. He also dubbed over the voices of Lionel Stander, Eli Wallach, Peter Ustinov, Rod Steiger, Orson Welles, Burt Lancaster and Spencer Tracy. Gaipa assisted with the foundation of a dubbing company in the 1970s alongside Renato Turi, Giancarlo Giannini, Valeria Valeri, Oreste Lionello and other historical Italian dubbers.

## Illness and death

In Gaipa's later years, he developed serious health problems and went from using a walking stick to a wheelchair, ultimately dying in Rome on 21 September 1989, at the age of 64. At the time of his death, he had just signed to reprise the role of Don Tommasino in The Godfather Part III, which was instead passed on to Vittorio Duse.

## Filmography
### Cinema

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1969 | That Splendid November | Alfio | |
| 1970 | The Pizza Triangle | President of Tribunal | |
| 1970 | Metello | Badolati | Also dubbing Frank Wolff's role |
| 1971 | The Man with Icy Eyes | Isaac Thetman | |
| 1971 | The Fifth Cord | Andrea's Chief | |
| 1972 | Shadows Unseen | Günther Rosenthal | |
| 1972 | Execution Squad | Lawyer Armani | |
| 1972 | The Sicilian Connection | Don Calogero | |
| 1972 | Without Family | Judge | |
| 1972 | The Eroticist | Don Gesualdo | Also dubbing Lionel Stander's role |
| 1972 | The Godfather | Don Tommasino | Sicilian sequence |
| 1972 | My Dear Killer | Head of Insurance Company | |
| 1972 | The Pisciotta Case | Direttore del carcere | |
| 1973 | 1931: Once Upon a Time in New York | Mob Boss | |
| 1973 | Giordano Bruno | Confessore di Giovanni Mocenigo | |
| 1973 | The Boss | Avvocato Rizzo | |
| 1973 | The Black Hand | Lawyer | |
| 1973 | Chino | Padre | |
| 1973 | I Kiss the Hand | Don Emilio Grisanti | |
| 1973 | Tony Arzenta | Tony Arzenta’s father | |
| 1973 | Secrets of a Call Girl | Doctor | |
| 1974 | The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine | Father Honorio de Mendoza | |
| 1974 | What Have They Done to Your Daughters? | Prosecutor | |
| 1974 | Prigione di donne | Magistrate | |
| 1976 | Illustrious Corpses | Supposed Mafioso | |
| 1977 | The Red Nights of the Gestapo | Udo Kassbaum | |
| 1977 | The Criminals Attack… The Police Respond! | Doctor | |
| 1977 | Crazy Desires of a Murderer | Inspector | |
| 1977 | A Spiral of Mist | Pietro San Germano | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1971 | La rosa bianca | Kurt Huber | TV film |
| 1971 | Bernadette Devlin | | TV film |
| 1972 | Le inchieste del commissario Maigret | Germain Cageot | 1 episode |
| 1973 | Napoleone a Sant'Elena | Lord Liverpool | TV miniseries |
| 1974 | Ho incontrato un'ombra | Buache | TV miniseries |
| 1975 | Portrait of a Veiled Woman | Nebbia | TV miniseries |
| 1975 | Il marsigliese | Tanino Sciacca | TV miniseries |
| 1975 | L'invitto | Retana | TV film |
| 1976 | Dov'è Anna? | Loris | TV miniseries |
| 1977 | La mossa del cavallo | Il maestro | TV miniseries (Segment: "L'ultima notte") |
| 1977 | The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television | Don Tommasino | TV miniseries |
| 1978 | Storie della camorra | Onorevole Colajanni | TV miniseries |
| 1979 | La dama dei veleni | Guido Santacroce | TV miniseries |
| 1980 | L'eredità della priora | Don Vincenzo | TV miniseries |
| 1980 | Sam & Sally | Dr. Jesse | 1 episode |
| 1982 | Il fascino dell'insolito | L'uomo dei manichini | 1 episode |
| 1982 | Marco Polo | Senator | 1 episode |

### Documentaries

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1984 | Giuseppe Fava: Siciliano come me | |

## Voice work

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1965 | West and Soda | Additional voices | Animated film |
| 1968 | VIP my Brother Superman | Colonel | Animated film |
| 1978 | Jazz Band | Narrator | Uncredited |
| 1983 | Help Me Dream | Narrator | Uncredited |
| 1983 | A School Outing | Narrator | Uncredited |
| 1988 | Sposi [it] | Narrator | Uncredited |

### Dubbing
#### Films (Animation, Italian dub)

| Year | Title | Role(s) |
| 1967 | The Jungle Book | Bagheera |
| 1967 | Asterix the Gaul | Abraracourcix |
| 1968 | Asterix and Cleopatra | Obelix |
| 1968 | Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day | Owl |
| 1970 | The Aristocats | Scat Cat |

#### Films (Live action, Italian dub)

| Year | Title | Role(s) | Original actor |
| 1959 | South Wind | Marquis Macri | Annibale Ninchi |
| 1960 | Everybody Go Home | Quintino Fornaciari | Martin Balsam |
| 1963 | The Leopard | Don Fabrizio Corbera | Burt Lancaster |
| 1963 | The Eye of the Needle | Don Salvatore | Ernesto Calindri |
| 1966 | Chimes at Midnight | John Falstaff | Orson Welles |
| 1967 | Operation St. Peter's | Joe Ventura | Edward G. Robinson |
| 1967 | Guess Who's Coming to Dinner | Matt Drayton | Spencer Tracy |
| 1967 | In the Heat of the Night | Bill Gillespie | Rod Steiger |
| 1967 | The Dirty Dozen | Archer J. Maggot | Telly Savalas |
| 1967 | Attack on the Iron Coast | Frederick Grafton | Maurice Denham |
| 1968 | The Shoes of the Fisherman | Cardinal Leone | Leo McKern |
| 1968 | House of Cards | Charles Leschenhaut | Orson Welles |
| 1968 | The Day of the Owl | Don Mariano Arena | Lee J. Cobb |
| 1968 | Never a Dull Moment | Leo Joseph Smooth | Edward G. Robinson |
| 1968 | Once Upon a Time in the West | Brett McBain | Frank Wolff |
| 1968 | The Ruthless Four | Sam Cooper | Van Heflin |
| 1968 | Krakatoa, East of Java | Harry Connerly | Brian Keith |
| 1968 | Blackbeard's Ghost | Captain Blackbeard | Peter Ustinov |
| 1968 | Hang 'Em High | Adam Fenton | Pat Hingle |
| 1968 | The Lion in Winter | Captain William Marshall | Nigel Stock |
| 1968 | 2001: A Space Odyssey | Frank Poole's father | Alan Gifford |
| 1968 | Will Penny | Alex | Ben Johnson |
| 1968 | Chitty Chitty Bang Bang | Lord Scrumptious | James Robertson Justice |
| 1968 | Rosemary's Baby | Roman Castevet | Sidney Blackmer |
| 1968 | Pistol for a Hundred Coffins | J. Texas Corbett | Piero Lulli |
| 1968 | May God Forgive You... But I Won't | Stuart | Luigi Pavese |
| 1969 | Tepepa | Colonel Cascorro | Orson Welles |
| 1969 | The Big Bounce | Sam Mirakian | Van Heflin |
| 1969 | The Brain | Frankie Scannapieco | Eli Wallach |
| 1969 | The Secret of Santa Vittoria | Italo Bombolini | Anthony Quinn |
| 1969 | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | M | Bernard Lee |
| 1969 | Battle of Britain | Sir David Kelly | Ralph Richardson |
| 1969 | Fellini Satyricon | Trimalchio | Mario Romagnoli |
| 1969 | Simón Bolívar | Mr. Hernandez | Julio Peña |
| 1970 | Metello | Betto Lampredi | Frank Wolff |
| 1970 | When Women Had Tails | Grr | Frank Wolff |
| 1970 | The Kremlin Letter | Bresnavitch | Orson Welles |
| 1970 | Between Miracles | Oreste Micheli | Lionel Stander |
| 1970 | Too Late the Hero | Captain Hornsby | Denholm Elliott |
| 1970 | La Horse | Auguste Maroilleur | Jean Gabin |
| 1970 | The McMasters | McMasters | Burl Ives |
| 1970 | Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion | Plumber | Salvo Randone |
| 1971 | Ten Days' Wonder | Théo Van Horn | Orson Welles |
| 1971 | Lawman | Vincent Bronson | Lee J. Cobb |
| 1971 | Scandalous John | John McCanless | Brian Keith |
| 1971 | A Clockwork Orange | Tramp | Paul Farrell |
| 1971 | Bananas | Sanchez | David Ortiz |
| 1972 | The Eroticist | Cardinal Maravidi | Lionel Stander |
| 1972 | Don Camillo e i giovani d'oggi | Peppone | Lionel Stander |
| 1972 | Treasure Island | Long John Silver | Orson Welles |
| 1972 | Duck Soup | Ambassador Trentino of Sylvania (1972 dubbing) | Louis Calhern |
| 1972 | Roma | Roman Eating in Terrace | Mimmo Poli |
| 1972 | Roma | Music Hall Compere | Galliano Sbarra |
| 1972 | Roma | Trattoria Waiter | Nino Terzo |
| 1972 | Roma | Cinema Spectator with Family | Dante Cleri |
| 1973 | The Exorcist | William F. Kinderman | Lee J. Cobb |
| 1973 | The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing | Harvey Lapchance | Lee J. Cobb |
| 1973 | Soylent Green | Solomon Roth | Edward G. Robinson |
| 1973 | Scorpio | Sergei Zharkov | Paul Scofield |
| 1973 | Ludwig | Father Hoffmann | Gert Fröbe |
| 1973 | Amarcord | Aurelio Biondi | Armando Brancia |
| 1974 | The Sensual Man | Baron Castorini | Lionel Stander |
| 1974 | Innocence and Desire | Salvatore Niscemi | Lionel Stander |
| 1975 | Russian Roulette | Commander Petapiece | Denholm Elliott |
| 1975 | Barry Lyndon | Captain Grogan | Godfrey Quigley |
| 1975 | The Hindenburg | Emilio Pajetta | Burgess Meredith |
| 1975 | My Friends | Niccolò Righi | Bernard Blier |
| 1975 | Deep Red | Rodi | Furio Meniconi |
| 1975 | The Big Sleep | General Sternwood (1975 redub) | Charles Waldron |
| 1976 | The Omen | Carl Bugenhagen | Leo McKern |
| 1976 | The Inheritance | Gregorio Ferramonti | Anthony Quinn |
| 1976 | Dog's Heart | Police Chief | Enzo Robutti |
| 1977 | Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Alec Guinness |
| 1977 | The Greatest | Angelo Dundee | Ernest Borgnine |
| 1977 | The Deep | Adam Coffin | Eli Wallach |
| 1977 | Wifemistress | Head Doctor | Armando Brancia |
| 1977 | Julia | Dashiell Hammett | Jason Robards |
| 1978 | Damien - Omen II | Carl Bugenhagen | Leo McKern |
| 1978 | Convoy | Lyle "Cottonmouth" Wallace | Ernest Borgnine |
| 1979 | 1941 | Angelo Scioli | Lionel Stander |
| 1980 | Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Alec Guinness |
| 1980 | Private Benjamin | Colonel Clay Thornbush | Robert Webber |
| 1981 | Great White | Ron Hamer | Vic Morrow |
| 1983 | Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Alec Guinness |
| 1983 | Zeder | Professor Chesi | John Stacy |
| 1986 | Ginger and Fred | Admiral Aulenti | Friedrich von Ledebur |
| 1987 | Il mistero del panino assassino | Arno dei conti Vicini | Francisco Rabal |
| 1989 | New York Stories | Psychiatrist | Marvin Chatinover |