Mike Bongiorno

Mike Bongiorno

Bongiorno in 1981
Born (1924-05-26)26 May 1924
New York City, USA
Died 8 September 2009(2009-09-08) (aged 85)
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Occupation Presenter
Years active 1946–2009

Michael Nicholas Salvatore Bongiorno (May 26, 1924 in New York City – September 8, 2009 in Monte Carlo), known as Mike Bongiorno (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmaik bonˈdʒorno]), was an American, naturalized Italian, television host. After a few experiences in the US, he started working on Italian TV in the 1950s and was considered to be the most popular host in Italy. He was also known by the nickname il Re del Quiz (The Quiz King), and the peculiarity of starting all his shows with his trademark greeting: Allegria! (Cheers!).[1]

Early years

Bongiorno was born in New York City, but moved to Turin (his mother's native city), when he was young. His father was a Sicilian American lawyer. During World War II Mike abandoned his studies and joined a group of Italian partisans. He was captured and spent seven months in the San Vittore prison in Milan and was then deported to a German concentration camp. He was liberated before the end of the war due to an exchange of war prisoners between the United States and Germany. He returned to New York and in 1946 started work at the radio headquarters of Il Progresso Italo-Americano (The Italian-American Progress) newspaper.

Career

Bongiorno returned to Italy in 1953. He appeared in the program Arrivi e partenze (Arrivals and Departures) on the TV channel RAI on the very first day of official public TV transmissions in Italy. From 1955 to 1959 he hosted the quiz show Lascia o raddoppia?, the Italian version of USA's The $64,000 Question. This was the first successful quiz show on Italian TV, and became one of the most famous Italian TV programs ever.

Another successful program was Campanile Sera (Bell Tower Evening, 1959–1962), in which a southern Italian town and a northern one challenged each other with questions made to representatives of the two towns who were present in the studio and practical games played by citizens situated at the same towns.

In 1963 Umberto Eco wrote an essay entitled Fenomenologia di Mike Bongiorno in which he used advanced academic theories to shed light on Mike Bongiorno and his way of communicating. Eco held that Mike Bongiorno was so good at portraying himself as no better than average in every respect, that 100% of his audience could feel good about themselves.

Beginning in 1963, he hosted the first of eleven editions of the Sanremo Festival. Then he hosted the quiz programs Caccia al numero (Number Hunting, 1962), La Fiera dei Sogni (Dream Fair, 1962–1965) and Giochi in Famiglia (Games in Family, 1966–1969). But the greatest success came with the quiz program Rischiatutto (1970–1974), an adapted Italian version of Jeopardy!, with 20 to 30 million watchers every Thursday night, the highest audience in the history of Italian TV. Other programs hosted by Bongiorno were the news talk show Ieri e Oggi (Yesterday and Today, 1976) and the quiz programs Scommettiamo? (Wanna Bet?, 1976–1978), inspired by horse-racing, and a remake of Lascia o raddoppia? in 1979.

Mike Bongiorno with Pippo Baudo, Corrado Mantoni and Enzo Tortora.

He moved to Tele Milano (now Canale 5), one of the first Italian commercial TV channels owned by Mediaset, the media company founded by Silvio Berlusconi, to host I sogni nel cassetto (The dreams, literally "The dreams in the drawer", 1979–1980). After a brief return to RAI with the news-game Flash (1980–1982), he continued working for Mediaset quiz programmes Bis (1981–1990), Superflash (1982–1985), Pentathlon (1985–1987), Telemike (1987–1992), Tris (1990–1991), the math game Tutti per uno (All for one, 1992) and from 1989 to 2003 La ruota della fortuna (Wheel of Fortune).

From 1991 to 2001 he hosted Bravo, Bravissimo, a festival featuring preteen musicians, dancers and singers from all over the world. He won 24 Telegatto, the Italian TV prize.

Until 2005 he hosted Genius on Rete 4, an afternoon quiz show aimed at 12- to 14-year-olds. In 2006 and 2007 he hosted the prime-time quiz show Il Migliore (The Best) on Rete 4. More recently, he was also a guest of the second episode of the Gianfranco Funari's show Apocalypse Show on Rai 1. On December 13, 2007, Mike Bongiorno was awarded an honorary degree Honoris Causa by IULM University of Milan.[2] On 26 March 2009 Bongiorno signed for SKY Italia after Mediaset decided not to renew his contract, where he planned to host a new game show on SKY Uno called RiSKYtutto (a modern edition of his popular show Rischiatutto), which had been scheduled to air in the autumn of 2009.

Death

On September 8, 2009, at the age of 85, Mike Bongiorno died of a heart attack, while leaving Metropole Hotel in Monte Carlo after a short holiday with his wife Daniela. His body lay in repose for a few days at the Triennale in Milan before a state funeral was held in the Milan Cathedral on September 12, 2009. Many Italian TV stars such as Rosario Fiorello, Pippo Baudo, Fabio Fazio, Sandra Mondaini, Alba Parietti, Paola Barale, Carlo Conti, Gerry Scotti, Marco Columbro and several other entertainers attended the service which was held by bishop Erminio De Scalzi. Bongiorno was buried in the family tomb, at Dagnente Cemetery, near Arona. On January 25, 2011, the tomb was ransacked and his body, along with the coffin, was stolen.[3] On Thursday December 8, 2011, Mike Bongiorno's body was recovered from a field near Milan.

Pasolini on television and Mike Bongiorno

La tv: qui la donna è considerata a tutti gli effetti un essere inferiore: viene delegata a incarichi d'importanza minima, come per esempio informare dei programmi della giornata; ed è costretta a farlo in modo mostruoso, cioè con femminilità. Ne risulta una specie di puttana che lancia al pubblico sorrisi di imbarazzante complicità e fa laidi occhietti. Oppure viene adoperata ancillarmente come "valletta" (al "maschio" Mike Bongiorno e affini). Pier Paolo Pasolini.

TV: here woman is to all intents and purposes considered as an inferior being: she's delegated to minimum importance duties, such as for instance giving advices about the daily show schedule; and she's forced to do it in a monstrous way, with feminity, I mean. The result is a sort of bitch who throws embarrassing complicity-full smiles and filthy glances. Or she's ancillarily used as a "valletta" (for the "male" Mike Bongiorno or a similar one). Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Honours and awards

Honours

In 1996 he was made a Commander of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus by Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, the last Crown Prince of the former Kingdom of Italy, and Head of the House of Savoy.

On May 26, 2004, in occasion of his 80th birthday, he was appointed as Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by the then Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.[4]

Honorary degree

In the fall of 2007, Bongiorno received an Honorary degree in Television, Film and Multimedia production from the IULM University of Milan.

Awards

References

  1. ↑ Xuereb, Charles. "'A personality that shaped TV entertainment for decades'". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
  2. ↑ "Laurea Magistrale Honoris Causa in Televisione, cinema e produzione multimediale a Mike Bongiorno" (in Italian). IULM University. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
  3. ↑ "Arona, trafugata la bara di Mike Bongiorno" (in Italian). Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  4. ↑ "ONORIFICENZE - Dettaglio del decorato" (in Italian). Retrieved 2009-09-10.
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