Amerigo Tot

Amerigo Tot (September 27 1909 – December 13 1984) was a Hungarian sculptor and occasional actor. He was born in Fehérvárcsurgó, Hungary and moved to Rome, where he lived for the rest of his life. He studied in Budapest under Ferenc Helbing and György Leszkovszky from 1926 until 1928, and under László Moholy-Nagy at the Bauhaus in Germany until 1933. As the Nazis came to power he moved to Rome and worked sculpting memorials on a stipend from the Roman Hungarian Academy, where he eventually became an advisor. He fought in the Italian resistance movement starting in 1943.

He first received international recognition for his work on the frieze in Roma Termini station. He began doing abstract works in the 1950s. He returned home to Hungary in 1968 and 1969 to do traditional works, including a Madonna sculpture in his hometown. The Amerigo Tot Museum in Budapest is named after him.

In the 1960s and 1970s he made occasional appearances in films. He is perhaps best known to English-speaking audiences for his chilling role as Michael Corleone's bodyguard and executioner in The Godfather Part II. [cite web|url=http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=Variety100&reviewid=VE1117487975&content=jump&jump=review&category=1935&cs=1|title=The Godfather, Part II|publisher=Variety|accessdate=2007-07-01] He also appeared in The Most Beautiful Wife and Pulp.

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