Italian Theatre Director and Actor Giorgio Albertazzi died Saturday in Tuscany at the age of 92. He was born in Fiesole in 1923.
On stage, often in Shakespeare’s plays, Albertazzi worked with some of Italy’s most celebrated directors, including Luchino Visconti, for whom he debuted in 1949, and Franco Zeffirelli. He was well-known for playing, more than 1000 times, the role of Hadrian, drawing on Marguerite Yourcenar’s popular book. Albertazzi first played the role when he was 66, in 1989, and would later say he identified much of himself with it, especially the process of growing old.