Christian De Sica, born in 1951 in Rome, is an Italian comedian, actor, filmmaker and television presenter, the son of the director Vittorio De Sica and the actress María Mercader, whose early career was shaped by his father. Drawn to music, he took part in the Sanremo Music Festival in 1973, singing “Mondo mio”, but the outcome pushed him toward acting, as it had his father. With his father’s help he began his film career with Roberto Rossellini’s Blaise Pascal (1971) and Vittorio De Sica’s A Brief Vacation (1973), and in 1978 he found wide success on Rai television with the variety show Bambole, non c’è una lira. His career grew through the 1980s with Borotalco (1982) and Sapore di Mare, and after Night Club he became one of the best-known performers of the “cine-panettone” Christmas comedies, partnering with Massimo Boldi in films such as A spasso nel tempo (1996) and Christmas in Love (2004), which had grossed 300 billion lire by 2002. In 1990 he also began directing, with The Clan (2005) among his credits, and these comedies have remained commercially popular even when critics were less enthusiastic.
