Enzo Staiola, Who Starred in ‘Bicycle Thieves' as a Child, Dies at 85

New York Times

12-06-2025

Enzo Staiola, who played the staunch 8-year-old accompanying his father on a quest to recover a stolen bicycle in Vittorio De Sica's classic 1948 film, 'Bicycle Thieves,' died on June 4 in Rome. He was 85.
His death, in a hospital, was widely reported in the Italian press.
The father's character, played by a sad-eyed real-life factory worker, Lamberto Maggiorani, is the star of the film, which was originally released in the United States as 'The Bicycle Thief' and is routinely cited as one of the greatest films of all time.
But Mr. Staiola (pronounced STY-ola), who played the child, Bruno, is in many ways the emotional center of De Sica's work, which is considered a founding document of Italian neorealism and 'a fundamental staging post in the history of the European cinema,' the film historian Robert S.C. Gordon wrote in his 2008 book, 'Bicycle Thieves.'
The story, set in impoverished postwar Rome, revolves around Antonio Ricci, Mr. Maggiorani's struggling character, who must get his bicycle back to keep his new job hanging advertising bills around the city. The job requires the use of a bicycle. But he must also retrieve the bike to avoid disappointing his trusting son.
The character of Bruno is portrayed with poise and vulnerability by a little boy who, until then, had been more interested in playing soccer in his working-class Roman neighborhood than in acting.
The father's quest, unfolding through a series of sharply etched mishaps in the streets of the city, takes on weight for the audience as the despair becomes not just that of an adult but also of a plucky boy with expressive eyes, the young Mr. Staiola.
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