Portrait of Roberto Benigni

Birthday profile

Roberto Benigni

Roberto Benigni, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter

Born
October 27, 1952
Age in 2026
74
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1952

About Roberto Benigni

Roberto Remigio Benigni ( bə-NEE-nyee, Italian: [roˈbɛrto beˈniɲɲi]; born 27 October 1952) is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film director. He gained international recognition for writing, directing, and starring in the Holocaust comedy drama film Life Is Beautiful (1997), for which he received the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best International Feature Film. Benigni was the first actor to win the Best Actor Academy Award for a non-English language performance. Benigni made his acting debut in 1977's Berlinguer, I Love You, which he also wrote, and which was directed by Giuseppe Bertolucci. Benigni's directorial debut was the 1983 anthology film Tu mi turbi, which was also the acting debut of his wife, Nicoletta Braschi. He continued directing and also starring in the comedic films Nothing Left to Do But Cry (1984), The Little Devil (1988), Johnny Stecchino (1991), The Monster (1994), the award-winning film Life Is Beautiful (1997), Pinocchio (2002, as the title character), and The Tiger and the Snow (2005). Benigni acted in the Jim Jarmusch films Down by Law (1986), Night on Earth (1991), and Coffee and Cigarettes (2003). He also acted in Federico Fellini's The Voice of the Moon (1990), Blake Edwards' Son of the Pink Panther (1993), Woody Allen's To Rome with Love (2012), and Matteo Garrone's Pinocchio (2019, as Geppetto). In 1975, Benigni had his first theatrical success with Cioni Mario di Gaspare fu Giulia, written by Giuseppe Bertolucci.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Roberto Benigni was born

Roberto Benigni was born in 1952. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1952

  • #1 song"You Belong to Me" – Jo Stafford
  • Top movieThe Greatest Show on Earth
  • Top TV showI Love Lucy
  • Best-selling bookThe Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentRocky Marciano becomes heavyweight champion
  • Top headlineDwight Eisenhower elected president
  • Technology milestoneFirst hydrogen bomb tested
  • Defining fadMr. Potato Head
  • Notable inventionMr. Potato Head (first toy advertised on TV)
  • World population2.63 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonMinneapolis Lakers (NBA)
  • U.S. population156.4M

1952 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Roberto Benigni's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19522026
Gas$0.27$3.45/gal
Average home$9,100$435,000
Average income$5,700$67,500
Minimum wage$0.75$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.60$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population156.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.