Educated at the University of Turin, Raf Vallone was a professional soccer player and jack-of-all-trades journalist before making a spectacular film acting debut in the neorealist classic Bitter Rice. While Vallone has never wanted for roles of depth and meaning (Giovanni in De Sica's Two Women [1961], Eddie Carbone in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge [1962]), some producers insist upon casting him only as a jet-setting playboy, nattily attired in the latest fashions, a beautiful girl on each arm. In addition, Vallone has played so many unsavory characters like Mario Bello in 1964's Harlow that one wonders if his first name shouldn't be "Raffish...
