35 years ago the king of mouthful laughter died but it’s a cult (Tarantino loved it)

Tzè tzè. Two simple lines are enough to select one of them comedians Most popular in the 80’s. For everyone , cylinderAnd the Die 35 years ago: August 21, 1987. roman In the way of Monte Giordano was born Franco Lechner, a Habsburg surname, and did not want to know his origins. “Maybe it’s a noble name and my father told us now and then that he wanted to go to Austria to see a gynecological tree, we corrected it, and then we thought about it and said better, otherwise I find myself full of funny people,” says Stefania Lechner, Pompolo’s second daughter, born — with Daniela And Alessandro – from marriage with the only love of her life, Regina Apatiello.

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memories
It is Stefania who keeps the memory of her father with reserve and love. “Family is more sacred to my father than work,” which earned him great popularity. Bombolo, belongs to that funny and hilarious comedy, full of double meanings, and which automatically provokes laughter. Movie Who filled the halls, thanks to him, Lino Banfi, Thomas Milian and Alvaro Vitali, who then lived a second and a third life on local television. Then it ends with the collective imagination of the new generations with thousands of views on Youtube and social pages. And who knows how many know that Tze, Tze, his work horse, was born of a speech impediment. “My dad had a wedge, and he was speaking like that naturally,” Stefania explains.

Pompolo grew up in extremely poor post-war Rome, working as a peddler in the city’s historic centre. “My grandfather was Perakotaro, and he was selling cooked pears. My parents have plates and glasses and umbrellas in the winter and lounge chairs in the summer. So he kept us all,” Stefania Lechner adds.

The turning point
“The turning point came at Picchiottino, the tavern near the house that became his theatre. It is there that the character Bombolo was born, which is not a stage name. As a child he was fat and everyone called him that, never Franco.” To discover him in the seventies, there, Castellacci and Bengittor: they saw him and introduced him to Bagaglino, where he began to act nine months a year with three shows a day. “My dad was in his forties, and he didn’t want to be an actor. It was my mom who told him, ‘Don’t quit a steady job, if things go bad, take the wagon again.’”

Thomas Milian
And it happened right away because he didn’t act, it was like that.” Then Bruno Corbucci saw him in the theater and began partnering with Thomas Milian, Inspector Giraldi, a former thief, childhood friend of the Pompolo character, who became Venticello in the film due to his short complexion, Milian said. “A true friendship was born with him, and he was always in our house. They had nothing in common, but Thomas loved my father’s family and nature. He always came to see him in the hospital and when he died he said that he would not be rubbish, in fact he changed his gender ».

Quentin Tarantino
Bombolo, today a cult comedian, is also adored by Quentino Tarantino and Eli Roth who “write on Instagram that Bombolo is beautiful,” says Stefania, who dreams with her whole family. “We would like there to be a street in Rome in my father’s name, something that he and the Roman people would remind him of the past. Unfortunately, the bureaucracy has halted a project that had begun. Let me be clear: a street in Boccea, district 00 where we lived for a long time would also be fine. I think. He deserves it.”