Massimo Lopez

Massimo Lopez
Lopez in 2015
Born	(1952-01-11) 11 January 1952 (age 72) Ascoli Piceno, Italy
Occupations	Actor voice actor television presenter comedian
Years active	1975–present
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Relatives	Giorgio Lopez (brother)

Massimo Lopez (born 11 January 1952) is an Italian actor, voice actor, comedian, impressionist and television presenter. ^[1]

Together with fellow actors Anna Marchesini and Tullio Solenghi, he has been a member of the comic group known as Il Trio (The Trio). ^[2]

Biography

Lopez was born to parents from Naples who were temporarily working in Ascoli Piceno. ^[3] He started his acting career in 1975, was first cast as a voice actor in 1980, and founded Il Trio in 1982 with Tullio Solenghi and Anna Marchesini: the Trio debuted on Rai Radio 2 with the Hellzapoppin radio show. ^[4]

Following the great success of Hellzapoppin, the Trio participated in various television programs like Domenica in and the 1986 edition of Fantastico and took part to the Sanremo Music Festival editions of 1986, 1987 and 1989. ^[5]

In 1990, the Trio reached the peak of success with the parody of Alessandro Manzoni's The Betrothed , which was broadcast on Rai 1 in 5 episodes. ^[6] Together with Solenghi and Marchesini, Lopez brought on stage two theatrical shows: Allacciare le cinture di sicurezza (Fasten your seat belts) in 1987 and In principio era il trio (In the Beginning, there was the Trio) in 1990.

The Trio dissolved in 1994, due to the will of all three actors to work as soloists, ^[7] but reunited for one last time in 2008 to celebrate its 25th anniversary with the TV-program Non esiste più la mezza stagione. ^[4]

In 1998, Lopez made an appearance as a guest star in the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful and in 2005 he hosted Striscia la notizia together with Solenghi. ^[8] From 2005 to 2011 Lopez acted and sang in the theatre one-man-show Ciao Frankie (Goodbye, Frankie), also performed at the Colony Theatre in Miami, directed by his brother Giorgio Lopez and dedicated to Frank Sinatra, featuring songs, gags and impressions.

As a voice actor, Lopez is known for dubbing voices, such as Robin Williams' in the live action adaption of Popeye , Mike Myers in the second installment of the Austin Powers movies, and Stephen Fry in The Hobbit . In his animated roles, he has been providing the current Italian voice of Homer Simpson in The Simpsons since the death of Tonino Accolla in 2013 ^[9] and has performed the Italian voice of Grand Pabbie in Frozen , Ramon in Happy Feet , Mr. Peabody in Mr. Peabody & Sherman and Lionheart in Zootopia .

On 27 March 2017 Lopez suffered a heart attack while he was performing on stage; he quickly underwent an angioplasty and was transferred to a cardiological rehabilitation center, where he recovered completely and came back on stage two months later. ^[10]

Personal life

Lopez is the younger brother of the late actor, voice actor and theatre director Giorgio Lopez, who was the official Italian dubbing artist for Danny DeVito until his death in 2021. He is also the uncle of voice actors Gabriele and Andrea Lopez.

Filmography

Cinema

Year	Title	Role(s)
1982	Odd Squad	Pasquale Cutolo
1984	Ladies & Gentlemen	Fella
2023	La quattordicesima domenica del tempo ordinario	Samuele Nascetti

Television

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
1978	The Venetian Twins	Florindo	Special
1981	La donna serpente	Togrul	Special
1984	I veleni dei Gonzaga	Charles V	Television film
1990	The Betrothed	Don Rodrigo / Fra Cristoforo	Main role
1998	Professione fantasma	Inspector Max Ventura	Lead role
1998	The Bold and the Beautiful		Guest star
2001	Compagni di scuola	Felice Salina	Lead role
2002	Max & Tux	Max	Lead role
2012	Le mille e una notte - Aladino e Sherazade	The Genie	Miniseries

Voice work

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
2001	Aida of the Trees	Ramfis	Animated film
2012	Lightning Strike	Pope Benedict XVI	Comedy
2021	Una famiglia mostruosa  [ it ]	Sirio	Comedy horror
	Antonio	Pinocchio/Narrator	Short film [11]

Dubbing

Films (Animation, Italian dub)

Year	Title	Role(s)	Ref
1999	A Monkey's Tale	Sebastian
2006	Happy Feet	Ramon
2009	A Town Called Panic	Horse
2011	Happy Feet Two	Ramon
2013	Turbo	Bobby
	Justin and the Knights of Valour	Blucher
	Frozen	Grand Pabbie	[12]
	Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return	Cowardly Lion
2014	The Boxtrolls	Archiebald Snatcher
	Mr. Peabody & Sherman	Mr. Peabody
	Pudsey the Dog: The Movie	Edward the Horse
	Rio 2	Eduardo	[13]
2015	Strange Magic	Stuff
2016	Zootopia	Mayor Leodore Lionheart	[14]
	Ratchet & Clank	Captain Qwark
2017	Smurfs: The Lost Village	Papa Smurf
2019	Frozen II	Grand Pabbie	[15]
2021	The Good, the Bart, and the Loki	Homer Simpson
	Plusaversary
	Vivo	Andrés
	The Boss Baby: Family Business	Erwin Armstrong

Films (Live action, Italian dub)

Year	Title	Role(s)	Original actor	Ref
1980	Popeye	Popeye	Robin Williams	[16]
1981	Game of Death II	Lee Chen-chiang	Bruce Lee
1982	Night Shift	Chuck Lumley	Henry Winkler
	Angkor: Cambodia Express	Andrew Cameron	Robert Walker
1988	The Cannibals	Viscount d'Aveleda	Luís Miguel Cintra
1997	Banzai	Mr. Parker	John Armstead
1999	Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me	Austin Powers	Mike Myers	[17]
		Dr. Evil
		Fat Bastard
2009	A Single Man	George Falconer	Colin Firth
2012	Houba! On the Trail of the Marsupilami	General Pochero	Lambert Wilson
2013	Hummingbird	Damon Caulfield	Danny Webb
	The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug	Master of Lake-town	Stephen Fry	[18]
	The Congress	Reeve Bobs	Don McManus
	The Internship	Not Professor X	Jarion Monroe
	The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared	Allan Karlsson	Robert Gustafsson
	12 Years a Slave	Mr. Parker	Rob Steinberg
2014	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Splinter	Tony Shalhoub
	The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies	Master of Lake-town	Stephen Fry	[19]
	A Most Wanted Man	Tommy Brue	Willem Dafoe
	22 Jump Street	The Ghost	Peter Stormare
2015	A Man Called Ove	Ove Lindahl	Rolf Lassgård
			Filip Berg
	The Big Short	Lawrence Fields	Tracy Letts
	The Walk	Papa Rudy	Ben Kingsley
	Trumbo	Sam Wood	John Getz
	Mad Max: Fury Road	The Bullet Farmer	Richard Carter
2016	London Has Fallen	Aamir Barkawi	Alon Abutbul	[20]
	Love & Friendship	Mr. Johnson	Stephen Fry
	Pride and Prejudice and Zombies	Mr. Bennet	Charles Dance
	Live by Night	Ritz Investor	Christian Clemenson
	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows	Splinter	Tony Shalhoub
	Toni Erdmann	Gerald	Thomas Loibl
	31	Death-Head	Torsten Voges
	Alice Through the Looking Glass	Zanik Hightopp	Rhys Ifans	[21]
2017	Overdrive	Jacomo Morier	Simon Abkarian
	The Children Act	Mark Berner	Anthony Calf
	The Leisure Seeker	Will Spencer	Christian McKay
	The Disaster Artist	Method acting teacher	Bob Odenkirk
	Gangster Land	Abe Bernstein	Hal Alpert
2018	Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again	Fernando Cienfuegos	Andy García	[22]
	The Mule	Latón
2020	Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey	Jeronicus Jangle	Forest Whitaker
2021	The Night House	Mel	Vondie Curtis-Hall
2023	The Palace	Arthur William Dallas III	John Cleese

Television (Animation, Italian dub)

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes	Ref
1980–1982	The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show	Droopy	Main cast
	Fisherman Sanpei	Gyoshin Ayukawa	Main cast
1981	Supercar Gattiger	Joe Kabuki	Main cast
1981–1982	Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds	Aramis	Main cast
2004–present	Peppa Pig	Dr. Bear	Recurring role
2004–2009	Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends	Spiderus Reeves	Main cast
2012	Futurama	Ben	Episode: "The Bots and the Bees"
		Larvae Levin	Episode: "The Thief of Baghead"
2012–present	The Simpsons	Homer Simpson	Main cast (season 24–present)	[23]
		Grampa Simpson (young)
		Various characters
2013–2014	Strange Hill High	Mr. Abercrombie	Main cast
2013–2016	Doc McStuffins	Chilly	Main cast (season 2-4)	[24]
2014	Family Guy	Homer Simpson	Episode: "The Simpsons Guy"
	BoJack Horseman	Quentin Tarantulino	2 episodes
2015–2020	New Looney Tunes	Cecil Turtle	Recurring role
2016–2018	Skylanders Academy	Master Eon	Main cast
2022	Little Demon	Satan	Lead role
2023	Digman!	Quail Eegan	Main cast

Television (Live action, Italian dub)

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes	Original actor	Ref
1977–1981	Happy Days	Myron "Count" Malachi	Guest role (season 4)	Michael Pataki
		Jacques Du Bois	1 episode (season 6)	Patrick Gorman
		Sergeant Ryan	Recurring role	Ray Girardin
2012–2018	The Big Bang Theory	Stephen Hawking	7 episodes	Stephen Hawking
2015	Deadwood	Cy Tolliver	Main cast	Powers Boothe
2015	Once Upon a Time	Grand Pabbie	Episode: "A Tale of Two Sisters"	John Rhys-Davies
2015–2016	Daredevil	Ben Urich	Main cast (season 1)	Vondie Curtis-Hall	[25]
		Ray Schoonover / Blacksmith	2 episodes (season 2)	Clancy Brown
2015–2019	Jane the Virgin	Latin Lover Narrator	Main cast	Anthony Mendez	[26]
2016	Game of Thrones	Izembaro	3 episodes (season 6)	Richard E. Grant

Video games (Italian dub)

Year	Title	Role(s)	Ref
2015	Lego Dimensions	Homer Simpson

Television

With the Trio

• Domenica in (1985–1986)
• Fantastico (1986–1987)
• Sanremo Music Festival 1986 (1986)
• Sanremo Music Festival 1987 (1987)
• Sanremo Music Festival 1989 (1989)
• Non esiste più la mezza stagione (2008)

As soloist

• Scherzi a parte (1995, 1997)
• Quelli che... il Calcio (2001–2002)
• Striscia la notizia (2005)
• Miss Italia Show (2018)

References

1. "Massimo Lopez's dubbing contributions". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
2. "Massimo Lopez". MYmovies. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
3. Lualdi, Annalisa (8 May 2005). "MASSIMO LOPEZ L´emigrante di ritorno che sognava il Vomero". La Repubblica . Retrieved 5 October 2019.
4. "Lopez, Marchesini e Solenghi: Il ritorno". Corriere della Sera . January 26, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
5. "Tullio Solenghi: "Quella volta che col Trio facemmo arrabbiare l'Iran..."". Avvenire . October 29, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
6. "I promessi sposi del Trio ci insegnano che la comicità dà profondità alla nostra vita". HuffPost . August 1, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
7. "Tullio Solenghi/ "Bevi qualcosa Pedro!", la biografia: da Paolo Villaggio al ricordo di Anna Marchesini". ilsussidiario.net. October 26, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
8. "Solenghi e Lopez per due settimane al bancone di 'Striscia la notizia'". Messaggero Veneto – Giornale del Friuli . May 1, 2005. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
9. "Massimo Lopez racconta: "Così darò voce a Homer Simpson"". Corriere della Sera . November 22, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
10. "Infarto in scena per Massimo Lopez. Operato d'urgenza, ora sta meglio". Corriere della Sera . March 25, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
11. "Antonio (2021), di Emiliano De Martino" (in Italian).
12. "Frozen Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
13. "Rio 2 Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
14. "Zootopia Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
15. "Frozen II Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
16. "Popeye Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
17. "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
18. "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Italian voice cast". Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
19. "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
20. "London Has Fallen Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
21. "Alice Through the Looking Glass Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
22. "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
23. "The Simpsons Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
24. "Doc McStuffins Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
25. "Daredevil Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
26. "Jane the Virgin Italian voice cast" (in Italian). Antoniogenna.net. Retrieved 2021-09-26.

External links

Media related to Massimo Lopez at Wikimedia Commons

• Massimo Lopez at IMDb  
• Massimo Lopez at AllMovie
• Massimo Lopez at Anime News Network 's encyclopedia
• Massimo Lopez discography at Discogs
• Massimo Lopez at Behind The Voice Actors