Lino Toffolo

Lino Toffolo (born 13 December 1934, Murano, Italy - died 18 May 2016, Venice, Italy) was an Italian actor, stand-up comedian, television presenter, author and singer-songwriter.

His career spanned five decades and began in the early 1960's, performing in the famous cabaret “Derby Club” in Milan, along with other emerging talent such as Enzo Jannacci and Bruno Lauzi. The typical character role that he played was the nice drunkard, speaking a strong Venetian dialect – a role he would play many times over, both on stage and in movies. He also became a very familiar figure on Italian television, thanks to his appearance in several shows through the 1970's and the 1980's.

His musical contributions ranged from Venetian folk songs to classic television show theme songs. One of the most famous being the theme song for the animated series Johnny Bassotto (1976).

In later years he was also an independent director and producer.