Dario Bandiera

Comedian and actor Dario Bandiera was born in the Sicilian coastal city of Siracusa in 1970; adept at imitations and improvisation as a young man, he began working local clubs as a comic. In the early 1990s, he moved to Rome and began working in Italian television. Guest appearances on various popular variety shows led to Bandiera being cast in a comedic game show called "Beato tra le donne," in which his improvisational and impersonation skills were put to the test weekly in a series of quick sketches. He made his film debut in 1994 as a Roman taxi driver in director Enrico Oldoini's omnibus comedy "Miracolo italiano." By the early 2000s, Bandiera was co-starring in popular films such as the supernatural comedy "Witches to the North," the episodic romantic comedy "Manuale d'amore" and its sequel "Manuale d'amore 2 (Capitoli Successivi)." Later his supporting roles in the Tarantino-like comic action thriller "Albakiara" and the romantic comedy "Italians" (in which he played cynical matchmaker Vito Calzone) led to his starring role in the 2009 romantic comedy "Oggi sposi," in which he plays a hapless young groom whose overbearing mother accidentally sparks a city-wide organized crime feud with her opulent wedding plans. In 2011, Bandiera starred in "Vacanze di Natale a Cortina," the 28th film in an annual series of lightweight romantic comedies released during the holiday season.