In the last two decades of the 20th century he was - perhaps on a par with Benigni - the face of Tuscan comedy and creativity on the big screen. Francesco Nuti passed away yesterday at the age of 68 at the Villa Verde nursing home in Rome, where he had been hospitalized for some years. In breaking the news of his death, his daughter Ginevra and family members sincerely thanked the medical staff and all those who had cared for the actor during the long period of his illness, especially the staff of the facility. In short, his "second life." For the actor and director - born in Prato in 1955 - the years of success had in fact been succeeded by the hard years of depression and coma, due to a domestic accident that occurred on September 3, 2006, just on the eve of his return to the sets. The episode marked him for the rest of his life. As an actor, he won the David di Donatello twice, in 1983 for Maurizio Ponzi's "The Poor Hustlers", for which he was also awarded the Silver Ribbon, and in 1985 for "Casablanca Casablanca", which he also directed. Performing as a student as an amateur actor in texts he wrote himself, he was noticed by Alessandro Benvenuti and Athina Cenci who wanted him in the group "Giancattivi": Benvenuti directed him for the first time in cinema in "West of Paperino" (1981). He abandoned the trio by starting a collaboration with Maurizio Ponzi, under whose direction he starred in three films in which his original comedy emerges: "What a ghostly silence there is tonight" (1982), "The Poor Hustlers" with Giuliana De Sio and "Son contento" (1983). He made his directorial debut with "Casablanca Casablanca", then continued with "The Poor Hustlers". The man-woman relationship always remains the focus of his attention in subsequent films as well: from "All the fault of Paradise" (1985) to "Stregati" (1986), from "Caruso, son of a Pole" (1988) to "Willy Signori and I Come from Far Away" (1989), to "Women in Skirts" (1991). Less inspired are the latest films ("OcchioPinocchio" in 1994, "Mr Fifteen Balls" in 1998, "I Love Andrea" in 2000 and "Caruso, Zero for Conduct" the following year).