The phrase: “Iceland is close to Padua” takes you back in time and brings to mind Giulio’s famous interview at the Zecchino d’Oro. Leading that edition was Cino Tortorella, who became the symbol of the program as well as a fundamental man in the Rai schedule.
Who was Cino Tortorella
Felice Tortorella, known by the nickname of Cino (Ventimiglia, June 27, 1927 – Milan, March 23, 2017), was a Italian TV presenter. He grows up only with his mother Lucia without ever being able to know his father, who dies before his birth. After a youth spent in Liguria and which ended with a diploma from the Cassini High School in Sanremo, he moved to Milan where he attended the Faculty of Law. He abandons it shortly after when he first performs military service in the Alpine troops and then he devotes himself full time to the theater.
He is among the winners of the selection for the Dramatic Art School of the Piccolo Teatro by Giorgio Strehler and right here in 1956 he promotes the staging “Zurlì, magician Lipperlì” which then inspires the screenplay of his highly successful program “Zurlì the thursday magician”. This aired in 1957 for two years, then Tortorella devoted himself throughout his career to the most famous song event for children ever: Zecchino d’Oro.
The beginning of Cino Tortorella’s career
He therefore plays the character of the Magician Zurlì for good fifty editions of the program, promoted at the time by Umberto Eco, a Rai official. Success is incredible and becomes a key step in the childhood of all the children raised in those years. Moreover, due to its extremely long-lived management, it becomes part of the Guinness World Records for being the person who has presented the same program longer than anyone else in the world.
During his time in Rai he also works as director and author of “Who knows who knows?” a very successful program that aired for more than ten years and became one of the fundamental programs on children’s TV. Later he works for the broadcast “New encounters” in which contemporary writers of the time of great success participate, including Dino Buzzati and Alberto Moravia.
Cino Tortorella and consolidated success
With the advent of private televisions does not miss the opportunity to have new experiences. So in the early eighties he started working with Telealtomilanese and later with Antennatre where he often collaborates with Enzo Tortora. Among the successful broadcasts of the network one remembers “Telebigino” in which Roberto Vecchioni, who was also a professor of Latin and Greek at the time, responded to requests for help from viewers in difficulty with their homework. He also collaborates with Euro TV in which he is the author together with Antonio Ricci de “The Talking Cricket”.
In addition to TV programs, he dedicates himself to the world of journalism and literature writing in children’s weeklies including “Il Corriere dei Piccoli”, “Il Giornalino” and “Topolino”. After a severe ischemic attack, he also dedicated himself to volunteer activities, founding the association “The friends of Mago Zurlì” with the aim of having someone able to follow the boys. Upon his death in 2017, many celebrities were present at his funeral. Furthermore, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Zecchino d’Oro, an episode was made in his honor.