Obit: Oreste Lionello 81, Entertainer and Film Dubber

Lionello was a star in Italy's movie dubbing business, and was Italy's "voice" of Woody Allen, Jerry Lewis and other comic stars including Peter Sellers, Marty Feldman and Charlie Chaplin in "The Great Dictator." Lionello on occasion answered his phone by saying, "I am the voice of Woody Allen." For those who had seen Allen's films only in Italian, hearing the real voice of Woody Allen could be jarring. Lionello's dubbing captured all of the neuroses and sarcastic tones in Allen's speech.

Italian Entertainer Oreste Lionello Dies

Film dubber voiced Woody Allen, Jerry Lewis

By Associated Press

Oreste Lionello, an entertainer and film dubber who was Italy's "voice" of Woody Allen, Jerry Lewis and other comic stars, died Feb. 12 in Rome. He was 81.

Lionello was a star in Italy's movie dubbing business.

Italian actor and director Pier Francesco Pingitore, who did cabaret acts with Lionello, said the dubber died after a long illness.

Besides Allen and Lewis, other actors who were dubbed by Lionello included Peter Sellers,Marty FeldmanandCharlie Chaplin in "The Great Dictator."

Lionello on occasion answered his phone by saying, "I am the voice of Woody Allen." For those who had seen Allen's films only in Italian, hearing the real voice of Woody Allen could be jarring. Lionello's dubbing captured all of the neuroses and sarcastic tones in Allen's speech.

Early in his career in entertainment, Lionello worked in theater as a comic actor and in cabaret, where he was noted for his imitations of veteran Italian politician Giulio Andreotti. Lionello also worked successfully as an entertainer on Italian TV in the 1970s and 1980s.

But it was in dubbing that he earned his greatest fame.

Most of the hundreds of movies imported into Italy each year are dubbed, and some distributors hold that dubbing prevails because many people will not go to subtitled films.