Roberto Russo, filmmaker, screenwriter and photographer, has died in Rome at the age of 77. He was also known as the longtime companion and later husband of actress Monica Vitti, to whom he remained devoted until her death in 2022.
Born in Rome on September 23, 1947, Russo met Vitti in his twenties on the set of Carlo Di Palma’s Teresa la ladra. From that moment, their personal and artistic partnership grew into a lifelong bond. In 1983, Russo made his directorial debut with Flirt, a film that earned him the David di Donatello Award for Best New Director, with Vitti in the leading role. He went on to direct her again in Francesca è mia (1986), co-written with the actress and Vincenzo Cerami, and entrusted the music to Tullio De Piscopo after having collaborated with Francesco De Gregori for Flirt.
Their collaboration extended to stage and television, culminating in Scandalo segreto (1988), Vitti’s final film, which she also directed. In 2000, after decades together, the couple married in Rome’s Capitoline Hill. In the years that followed, Russo shielded Vitti from public attention during her illness, always opting for discretion.
Since 2023, Russo himself had been in poor health and was hospitalized in a care facility in Rome, where he passed away on Saturday morning. His funeral will take place on Tuesday, September 23, at the Church of the Artists in Piazza del Popolo, on the day he would have turned 78.