Maurizio Costanzo
Costanzo in 2015
Born(1938-08-28)28 August 1938
Rome, Italy
Died24 February 2023(2023-02-24) (aged 84)
Rome, Italy
Occupation(s)Television host, journalist
Height1.6 m (5 ft 3 in)
Spouses
Lori Sammartino
​
​
(m. 1963, divorced)​
    Flaminia Morando
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1973; div. 1984)​
      Marta Flavi
      ​
      ​
      (m. 1989; div. 1995)​
        ​
        (m. 1995)​
        PartnerSimona Izzo (1983–1986)
        Children3, including Saverio

        Maurizio Costanzo (28 August 1938 – 24 February 2023)[1] was an Italian television host, journalist, screenwriter, and film director.

        Biography

        Costanzo began his career as a journalist, first as a contributing writer to Paese Sera and then as managing editor of the weekly Grazia. In the late 1970s, he was the founding editor of the newspaper L'Occhio. Parallel to his career as a journalist, he worked as a radio and TV host, where he became known for his subtle, low-profile irony.[2] His most popular show, Bontà loro was a staple of RAI's programming but he was forced to resign after news broke that he was a member of the Propaganda 2 masonic lodge.[3][4] Costanzo then moved to Silvio Berlusconi's main TV station Canale 5, where he hosted the Maurizio Costanzo Show.[5] It was the first Italiano talk show. The program worked as a talent scout and launched many Italian artists and showmen (like Alessandro Bergonzoni, Dario Vergassola, Walter Nudo, Daniele Luttazzi, Ricky Memphis, David Riondino, Stefano Nosei, Nick Novecento, Claudio Bisio, Platinette, and Enzo Iacchetti), contributing to the popularity of as many others (like Valerio Mastandrea, Giobbe Covatta, Enrico Brignano, Giampiero Mughini, and Afef Jnifen.[6]

        Costanzo was the artistic director of Canale 5 until 2009. In 2010 he returned to RAI, presenting the talk show Bontà sua.[7] Since 2011 he also collaborated with Radio Manà Manà.[8]

        Costanzo was the "communication-agent" (an aesthetical and rhetorical consultant for public appearances) of many Italian political leaders. He was a professor at the Università degli Studi Niccolò Cusano.[9]

        Costanzo also wrote screenplays for several films. In 1977 he wrote and directed his first and to these days last film, Melodrammore.[10] In 1966 he co-wrote the lyrics of the song "Se telefonando", which was popularized by Mina.

        On 14 May 1993, Costanzo, who had expressed delight at the arrest of Sicilian Mafia boss Salvatore Riina, was almost killed by a bomb as he drove down a Rome street; 23 people were injured.[11]

        Personal life and death

        Costanzo was married four times.[12] In 1963 he married Lori Sammartino, a journalist and photographer fourteen years his senior. He later married another journalist, Flaminia Morando, who left her husband Alberto Michelini for Costanzo. Costanzo and Morando had two children: Camilla (born 1973) and Saverio (born 1975); they divorced in the late 1970s. From 1983 to 1986 Costanzo lived with the actress, voice actress, screenwriter and director Simona Izzo.[13] On 7 June 1989, he married the TV presenter Marta Flavi,[14] but they separated in December 1990 and divorced in 1995. On his 57th birthday, 28 August 1995, Costanzo married Maria De Filippi, a television host and producer, who had been living with him since 1990.[15] In 2004, the couple adopted a 12-year-old boy. Maurizio Costanzo has a strong connection to the village of Ansedonia, in the province of Grosseto, where he had a residence for decades and spent his holidays there together with Maria de Filippi.

        Costanzo died on 24 February 2023 at the private clinic Paideia of Rome at the age of 84.[16] His funerals were officiated on 27 February 2023 in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Montesanto in Rome, after which he was buried in the Campo Verano cemetery.[17]

        Films

        Screenwriter

        References

        1. ↑ "Maurizio Costanzo, Who Transformed Italian Talk Shows, Dies at 84". New York Times. 1 March 2023.
        2. ↑ Biografieonline – Maurizio Costanzo. Biografieonline.it. Retrieved on 9 July 2015.
        3. ↑ Corsera, 5 ottobre 1980: “Il fascino discreto del potere nascosto. Parla, per la prima volta, il signor P2″. beccaria.org. 15 May 2010
        4. ↑ Peter Gomez (24 February 2023). "Maurizio Costanzo, in 2019 the interview with La Confessione by Peter Gomez. From television to the attack in via Fauro: the complete episode". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). (at minute 22:27)
        5. ↑ The Maurizio Costanzo Show
        6. ↑ ""Ho scoperto più stelle di Galileo"" (in Italian). Agenzia Giornalistica Italia.
        7. ↑ Tvblog – Maurizio Costanzo torna in Rai: Non per soldi ma per amore. Tvblog.it (20 June 2015). Retrieved on 9 July 2015.
        8. ↑ RADIO MANA' MANA'. Storiaradiotv.it. Retrieved on 9 July 2015.
        9. ↑ "Maurizio Costanzo è uno dei nuovi docenti dell'Università degli Studi Niccolò Cusano". Le Novae. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
        10. ↑ Costanzo, Maurizio (28 April 1978), Melodrammore, Enrico Montesano, Fran Fullenwider, Jenny Tamburi, Mino Bellei, Rizzoli Film, retrieved 29 April 2021
        11. ↑ The Olive Tree of Peace: The massacre in via dei Georgofili Archived 14 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine, The Florentine, 24 May 2012)
        12. ↑ Costanzo: le storie delle mie donne. L' amore è un antidoto alla vecchiaia. corriere.it. 27 August 2001
        13. ↑ Maurizio Costanzo smiling beside Simona Izzo. gettyimages.co.uk
        14. ↑ Maurizio Costanzo and Marta Flavi smiling at their marriage in Rome. gettyimages.co.uk
        15. ↑ Maurizio Costanzo and Maria De Filippi with two drums. gettyimages.co.uk
        16. ↑ "Morto Maurizio Costanzo, il re del salotto in tv - Speciali". ANSA.it (in Italian). 24 February 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
        17. ↑ D'Amore, Eleonora (27 February 2023). "Maurizio Costanzo sarà sepolto al cimitero del Verano: lì dove riposano Sordi, Proietti e Monica Vitti". Fanpage.it (in Italian).
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