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Luciana Littizzetto

Immagine dalla pubblicazione di il Giornale
From the publication il Giornale

Luciana Littizzetto (Turin, 1964) is a comic actress, writer, and television and radio host. Having earned a piano diploma at the Conservatory and a degree in Literature from the University of Turin, she became from the 1990s onward one of the most recognizable voices in Italian comedy[1]. She was born in Turin, where she still lives[2], and the city has remained a constant backdrop to her work: from a classroom in a suburban school to Turin's film sets, to civic campaigns and the Salone del Libro.

Education and teaching at Le Vallette

Before the stage came music: her piano diploma was earned at the Conservatory, followed by a degree in Literature from the Turin university[1]. In the same years she was studying acting, she taught in middle schools[1]: Italian and music at a school in the Vallette neighborhood, while also working in Turin as a soap opera dubbing artist[3]. Her cabaret debut came in the early 1990s[1].

From Rai 3's «Avanzi» to «Mai dire gol»

Her national breakthrough came with Avanzi, Rai 3's satirical program from 1992[1]. Cielito lindo, Ciro and Mai dire gol followed, with the Gialappa's Band, with whom she also worked during the 1998 World Cup in France[3]. Those years produced the catchphrases that made her famous, «Minchia Sabbry» and «Ti amo bastardo», which earned her the title of «absolute champion of women's comedy», as she was introduced in 2019 at an event held by the Turin Civic Libraries at the Mausoleo della Bela Rosin[4].

Cinema welcomed her early on. In 1997 she was part of the cast of Tre uomini e una gamba, by Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo, a success that, together with Milanese television, brought her "sensational" popularity[3]; that same year she appeared in Davide Ferrario's Tutti giù per terra, a film shot in Turin and packed with cameos from the city's cultural scene, playing a post office clerk[5]. In the following years she acted in, among others, Manuale d'amore (2005) and Maschi contro femmine (2010)[1], and in 2010 appeared in Riccardo Jacopino's 40% – Le mani del destino, a debut film produced by a social cooperative with support from the Film Commission Torino Piemonte[6].

«Che tempo che fa» and Sanremo

Since 2005 she has been a regular guest on Che tempo che fa, Fabio Fazio's program on air since 2003[7]. Together with Fazio she hosted the Sanremo Festival in 2013 and 2014[7]. In March 2021, with Fazio convalescing and connecting from home, it was she who led the episode in studio[8]. When Fazio announced in May 2023 his departure from Rai for Discovery, the comedian, "who has worked alongside Fazio for many years," followed him to Nove starting that autumn[9].

Alongside the talk show came roles as a judge: on Italia's Got Talent from 2015 to 2018 and, from 2023, on Tu sì que vales[1]. In 2019 she played God in the second season of the satirical series Romolo + Giuly on Fox[10].

The writer

Her first literary success was Sola come un gambo di sedano (2001)[1], the book with which, according to the 2019 Turin presentation, the comedian "moved to the page in more mature form"[4]. In the Mondadori catalogue, these were followed, among others, by La principessa sul pisello, Col cavolo, La jolanda furiosa, Madama Sbatterflay, Ogni cosa è fulminata, Io mi fido di te, and the more recent Il tempo del la la la[2]. At the 2026 Turin International Book Fair she curated the «Leggerezza» section, one of the festival's parallel programs[11].

Turin on screen and in the streets

Her bond with the city also runs through its film sets. In 2013 she starred alongside Fabio De Luigi in Aspirante vedovo, a remake of Dino Risi's 1959 film, shot between the Luigi Einaudi Campus, Moncalieri (Piazza del Fieno), villas in the Canavese, and the mountain hut at Colle del Lys[12]. In October 2019 Raffaella Carrà came to Turin to record an episode of A raccontare comincia tu with her, and the two were photographed shopping among the stalls of Porta Palazzo[13]. In 2020 she was among the artists featured in the Saint John's Day celebration broadcast live nationwide alongside Genoa and Florence[14], and in 2022 the City's Historical Archive included her, together with Rita Pavone and Carla Bruni, among the Turinese artists featured in the exhibition «Torino e le donne»[15].

Advocacy for organ donation

In 2025 she served as spokesperson for a campaign by AITF (the Italian Association of Liver Donors): starting on April 11, National Organ Donation Day, the campaign's video was broadcast on a loop on the screens of Turin's registry offices, where adult citizens can express consent to donation when picking up their identity card. On April 23, 2025, she appeared in person at the Central Registry Office, together with city councillor Francesco Tresso, describing donation as «An act of free generosity»[16]. The City of Turin announced on that occasion that it was working on a memorandum of understanding with Città della Salute[16].

«I understand that the thought of death is frightening, often people don't speak up and simply put off the choice, because it isn't a priority at that moment.»

Luciana Littizzetto at Turin's Central Registry Office, April 23, 2025

Pages linking here

Related articles: Porta Palazzo

Sources

  1. Treccani
  2. Mondadori
  3. il Giornale
  4. TorinoClick – Città di Torino — 18 October 2019
  5. Mole24 — 29 December 2025
  6. Filmitalia – Cinecittà
  7. Il Post — 15 May 2023
  8. Il Messaggero — 7 March 2021
  9. Il Post — 14 May 2023
  10. ANSA — 24 July 2019
  11. TorinoClick – Città di Torino — 20 March 2026
  12. Mole24 — 11 December 2025
  13. Mole24 — 30 October 2019
  14. TorinoClick – Città di Torino — 17 June 2020
  15. TorinoClick – Città di Torino — 1 March 2022
  16. TorinoClick – Città di Torino — 23 April 2025

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