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He was born February 15, 1898, in the Rione Sanità, one of the most popular and poor quarters on Naples. He was the son of Anna Clemente and marquis Giuseppe de Curtis, who recognized him as his son in 1922. At his father's death in 1933 Totò was adopted by prince Luigi Gagliardi. The combination of his natural and adopted fathers' titles gave Totò the unuasually long legal name of Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Dicas Commeno Porfirogenito Gagliardi De Curtis di Bisanzio, Royal Highness, Count Palatino, Knight of the Sacred Roman Empire, Viscount of Ravenna, Duke of Macedonia and Illiria, Prince of Constantinople, Cicilia, Tessaglia, Ponte di Moldavia, Dardania, Peloponneso, Count of Cipro and Epiro, Count and Duke of Drivasto and Durazzo.
In 1928 he begins a successful career of theater actor, which in 1937 lead to movie stardom. Throughout his career he starred in 96 movies. Despite his immense popular success, movie critics were very harsh on him to the extent that he himself did not think he was a great actor.
Some of his most famous movies are Totò E Le Donne, Miseria e nobiltà, I Soliti Ignoti, I Ladri, Totò E Cleopatra and Uccellacci E Uccellini.
Totò died in Rome on April 15, 1967. To this date he is very popular and especially venerated in his hometown, Naples.