Ferdinand Guillaume

Ferdinand Guillaume, born May 19, 1887, in Bayonne, was an Italian actor and film director who also performed under the stage names Tontolini and Polidor. His family had a long history in entertainment; they were a circus family with roots in French nobility who fled France during the 1789 revolution. His father, Onorato, was a celebrated acrobat and juggler, and his mother, Itala Truzzi, was an Italian circus performer from Brescia. Several uncles, Cesare (Bebè) and Umberto (Antonet), achieved international recognition as clowns. Guillaume and his brother Natale learned skills such as acrobatics, juggling, and clowning within this family environment.

Guillaume began his career working for several years in his family's circus before 1910. In 1908, he and Natale were discovered by filmmakers in Rome, and around 1910, they, along with their wives, transitioned to film work. He quickly became a comedic force, starring in over 100 comedy silent shorts as the character Tontolini at Cines Studios, completing this prolific output in just over a year. He appeared in Giulio Antamoro’s Pinocchio in 1911. From 1912 to 1914, he created approximately 100 comedies under the name Polidor. His films were distributed internationally, reaching audiences in Great Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and America. He later worked for Pasquali Film in Turin.

Throughout his extensive career, spanning nearly 300 films, Guillaume continued to appear in a wide range of productions. These included The Palace on the River (1940), The Daughter of the Green Pirate (1940), Music on the Run (1943), The Mad Marechiaro (1952), Angel in a Taxi (1958), The Employee (1959), and Everyone's in Love (1959). Notable collaborations included appearances in Federico Fellini’s Le notti di Cabiria (1957), La dolce vita (1960), and 8½ (1963), as well as Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Accattone (1961). He also toured Italy with vaudeville shows from the 1920s. Guillaume resided in Viareggio from 1946 until his death on December 3, 1977, at the age of 90.