caption years_active birth_name birth_place image_size background birth_date instrument genre image article_title name occupation
massimo ranieri 1964 -- present giovanni calone naples , italy 200px solo_singer 3 may 1951 vocals , keyboards , guitar , pop ranieri particolare.jpg massimo ranieri
 massimo ranieri singer-songwriter , musician , actor ,
massimo ranieri

massimo ranieri -lrb- born in naples , italy giovanni calone , 3 may 1951 -rrb- , is an italian pop singer , film and stage actor .
he was born in naples -lrb- at santa lucia -rrb- , the fifth of eight children in the family .
when he was 10 , young giovanni would sing at restaurants , wedding receptions , etc. .
he was discovered by a music producer about four years later and was flown to new york to record an ep under the name of gianni rock .
he recorded four songs in 1964 : tanti auguri signora , se mi aspetti stasera , non chiudere la porta , and la prima volta .
none of the records were successful , primarily because young gianni 's voice was changing .
two years later , he would re-emerge under his new stage name , massimo ranieri .
in 1966 , he made his tv debut singing `` bene mio '' .
a year later , he made another tv appearance singing , `` pietà per chi ti ama '' .
in 1968 , he recorded two more songs : `` da bambino '' , ma l'amore cos ' è '' and `` preghiera '' .
but it was n't until 1969 when he achieved success and became a teen idol when he sang `` o sole mio '' on live tv .
soon , in most every tv appearance he made , you could hear the girls screaming in the background .
that same year , he had a string of hits : `` rita '' , `` se bruciasse la citta '' , `` quando l'amore diventa poesia '' , `` il mio amore resta sempre '' , `` rose rosse '' and `` zingara '' .
in 1970 , `` vent ` anni '' , `` sogno d'amore '' , `` sei l'amore mio '' , `` aranjuez amore mio '' , and `` candida '' .
during that year , he decided to venture into acting .
massimo 's screen debut , `` metello '' received rave reviews from critics , and won him the david didonatello award for best actor for portraying the title character .
he co-starred with anna magnani in the television film `` la sciantosa '' , later that year .
in 1971 , massimo recorded the songs `` adagio veneziano '' , `` via del conservatorio '' , and `` io e te '' .
he represented italy in the 1971 `` eurovision song contest '' in dublin , ireland , where he placed 5th with the song `` l'amore e ' un attimo . ''
that same year , he fathered a daughter , cristiana , out of wedlock with `` franca sebastiani '' .
he did n't have anything to do with the raising of his daughter , saying that he was too young and inexperienced for fatherhood , and that it would be damaging to his career .
he was never linked with any other woman thereafter .
he did n't have any contact with his daughter until they met when she was about 20 years old .
in 1972 , he released the songs `` ti ruberei '' , `` o surdato ` nnamurato '' , and `` erba di casa mia '' ; in 1973 , `` amo ancora lei '' .
he returned to the eurovision song contest that year , in luxembourg , to represent italy with `` chi sarà con te '' , where he placed 13th .
in 1974 , came the singles `` te voglio bene assaie '' , `` immagina '' , and `` per una donna '' .
during that year , he filmed `` salvo d'acquisto '' , where he portrayed a carabinieri policeman who was executed by the nazis during world war ii .
when his singing career started to decline in 1975 , massimo concentrated on his acting career , both in the cinema and , most importantly , as a stage actor : he collaborated with the directors mauro bolognini , giuseppe patroni griffi , giorgio de lullo , giorgio strehler and maurizio scaparro , performing a wide range of material from modern plays and musicals , to molière and shakespeare .
in 1988 , he made a comeback with the song , `` perdere l'amore '' , which won the sanremo festival , that year .
in 1997 , he made another comeback with `` ti parlerò d'amore '' .
that same year , he did the italian voice-over for quasimodo in disney 's `` hunchback of notre dame '' , where he also sang quasimodo 's part as well .
on 16 october 2002 , massimo ranieri was nominated goodwill ambassador of the food and agriculture organization of the united nations -lrb- fao -rrb- .
in 2004 , he made his first french film , a trilogy series called `` les parisiens '' , where he played a street artist .
in 2005 , he returned on the stage with the show `` accussì grande '' , after a long bout with illness , from which he fully recovered .
at the start of 2007 , he decided to publicly acknowledge his long-estranged daughter , and embraced her for the first time on live tv .
it was a tearful reunion between father and daughter .
during that year , he was in a docu-film called civico 0 , where he played guilano , a fruit vendor , who becomes homeless after the death of his mother .
in 2008 , he starred in the film `` l'ultimo pulcinella '' .
in 2009 , he played the storyteller in the play , polvere di baghdad , directed by maurizio scaparro .
in february 2007 , he started a concert tour of italy , titled `` canto perché non so nuotare ... da 40 anni '' which lasted for more than two years , with more than 500 shows , was made into a cd and a dvd , which went platinum .
in 2010 , massimo was featured in passione , a documentary about the history of music from naples , italy , directed by italian-american actor , john turturro .
in november 2010 , he took part in the miniseries remake of the classic play , `` filumena marturano '' , produced by italian tv rai uno , with mariangela melato in the title role .
massimo portrayed filumena 's husband , domenico soriano .
