Overview

• Staiola died June 4, 2025, in a Rome hospital at age 85 after suffering complications from a fall.
• He was discovered at age 8 by director Vittorio De Sica while walking home from school and cast without audition as the young Bruno Ricci.
• Bicycle Thieves won the 1949 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and remains a defining work of Italian neorealism.
• Following appearances in films like The Barefoot Contessa (1954) and a 1977 uncredited role in The Girl in the Yellow Pyjamas, he left acting to teach mathematics and work as a land registry clerk.
• Staiola later reflected that lengthy shoots and strict on-set rules made his childhood acting experience burdensome despite its lasting legacy.