Overview
- Manzalini died on January 13, 2026 at Clinica Villa Paola in Bologna after a prolonged hospitalization.
- Turra announced the news on social media, noting Manzalini had suffered an ictus about a year earlier.
- As one half of Gemelli Ruggeri, he was a defining figure of Italy’s surreal, alternative comedy across the 1980s and 1990s.
- Their television rise included Gianni Minà’s program on Rai 2 and Antonio Ricci’s Drive In and Lupo Solitario, highlighted by the mock-Croda correspondents in grammelot.
- Beyond television, he appeared in Federico Fellini’s La voce della luna and published books with Pendragon after early theatre training at Roselle and ITC San Lazzaro and a prior degree in chemistry.