Rome, June 6 -- Enzo Staiola, the Italian child actor immortalised as Bruno Ricci in Vittorio De Sica's 1948 neorealist classic "Ladri di Biciclette" (Bicycle Thieves), has died at the age of 85.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica first reported the news, though the cause of death remains undisclosed.
According to the newspaper, he died on Tuesday.
Staiola was merely nine years old when he delivered a performance of remarkable restraint and emotional gravitas, portraying the wide-eyed, solemn son of an impoverished father in postwar Rome. Opposite Lamberto Maggiorani, himself a factory worker cast for his authenticity, Statiola's solemn eyes and quiet resilience provided the emotional nucleus of De Sica's humanist parable, which remains a ...