Of
Jewish origins on his maternal side, at the age of 17 he joined
Rimini Football Club, but abandoned his career as a footballer after a few months in order to attend the
National Academy of Dramatic Art Silvio D' Amico. In 2004 he separated from his first wife, the journalist and writer Margherita D'Amico, niece of
Suso Cecchi D'Amico; they divorced in 2008. In 2005 he became romantically linked with the actress
Luisa Ranieri, whom he met on the set of the television mini-series
Cefalonia, and with whom he has two daughters, born in 2011 and 2015 respectively. The couple married on 23 June 2012 in a civil ceremony at the
Donnafugata castle in Sicily. Zingaretti graduated from the
National Academy of Dramatic Art Silvio D' Amico in 1984 and began his acting career in the theatre, often working with director
Luca Ronconi, appearing in such diverse plays as
Chekhov's Three Sisters,
Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, and
Martin Sherman's
Bent. Zingaretti made his film debut in 1987 with a minor role in ''Gli occhiali d'oro
("The Gold-Rimmed Glasses") — directed by Giuliano Montaldo — and in the same year first appeared on television in Il Giudice Istruttore'' ("The Investigating Magistrate)", directed by
Florestano Vancini and Gianluigi Calderone. He first gained critical attention with his role as the ferocious "Ottorino" in Marco Risi's 1994 film
Il branco ("The Wolf Pack"). In 1996 he starred with
Sabrina Ferilli in the film
Vite strozzate ("Strangled Lives"), directed by
Ricky Tognazzi. However, stardom arrived with his leading role as Commissario
Salvo Montalbano, in the
Inspector Montalbano series of TV films, initially shown on
RAI Two, and then
RAI One, as well as many other European TV channels and
SBS in Australia. The series, which started running from 1999 and is still ongoing, consists of 36 films through 2020. After his success he became one of the most in-demand dramatic actors in Italy appearing in such films as: •
Prima dammi un bacio ("First Give Me a Kiss") (2003), dir. Ambrogio Lo Giudice • ''I giorni dell'abbandono'' ("Days of Abandonment") (2005), dir.
Roberto Faenza •
Tutte le donne della mia vita ("All The Women Of My Life") (2007), dir. Simona Izzo On TV he appeared in : •
Perlasca – Un eroe Italiano ("Perlasca : An Italian Hero") (2002) •
Doppio agguato ("Double Ambush") (2003) •
Cefalonia ("
Kefalonia") (2005) •
Alla luce del sole ("To The Sunlight") (2005), a film on the life of Don
Pino Puglisi. In 2008 he appeared in four new
Montalbano films, and in the same period adapted and directed the play
La Sirena, from a story by
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. In 2009 he continued to appear in the theatre and also worked on the film
We Believed, directed by
Mario Martone, and set during the
reunification of Italy in which he played
Francesco Crispi. He also appeared in the film
Il figlio più piccolo ("The Younger Son"), directed by
Pupi Avati and co-starring
Christian De Sica. In 2010 four new
Montalbano episodes were produced, broadcast by
RAI One on 14 March 2011 and the three following Mondays. Between 2011 and 2012 he was in the cast of the comedies
Immaturi - Il viaggio, dir.
Paolo Genovese and
Il comandante e la cicogna (
Garibaldi's Lovers), dir.
Silvio Soldini. He was among the stars of the international production
Asterix & Obelix in the service of His Majesty, dir.
Laurent Tirard in which he played a Roman general, and participated in a minor role in
Romanzo di una strage – (Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy), dir.
Marco Tullio Giordana. Also in 2012, he starred in two television films about two characters from twentieth century Italian history. First was
Paolo Borsellino - I 57 giorni – (Paolo Borsellino - the 57 Days), dir.
Alberto Negrin, made on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the death of Giovanni Falcone, while the latter told the life of the industrialist
Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno – (Adriano Olivetti - the Strength of a Dream), dir.
Michele Soavi. In 2014 he starred in the film in
Maldamore, dir. Angelo Longoni, with his wife,
Luisa Ranieri, Alessio Boni, Claudia Gerini and Ambra Angiolini, and in
Perez., dir. Edoardo De Angelis, together with Marco D'Amore; moreover the same year he returned to TV with the mini-series
Il giudice meschino – (The Indolent Judge), dir.
Carlo Carlei, with his wife. In 2013 another four episodes of
Montalbano were broadcast by
RAI One, and two more each year from 2016 through 2020. ==Filmography==