Enzo Fiermonte


Enzo Fiermonte, sometimes credited as William Bird, was an Italian actor and boxer.

Early life

Vincenzo "Enzo" Fiermonte was born on 17 July 1908 in Casamassima, a rural village near Bari, in southern Italy to Donato and Lucrezia Fiermonte.

Career

From 1925 to 1934, he was a professional boxer, with a lifetime record of 47 wins, 17 losses, and 2 draws. On June 22, 1943, he announced his permanent retirement from boxing.
In 1937, he entered his Maserati in the Vanderbilt Cup auto race in Westbury, New York, but was not allowed to participate because he had no formal auto racing experience.

Acting career

In 1940, he starred as a boxer in Dino De Laurentiis' first film, L'ultimo Combattimento, directed by Pietro Ballerini. Between the 1940s and the 1980s, he had acting roles in at least 116 films.

Personal life

Fiermonte was married to Tosca Manetti. In June 1933, Fiermonte's wife announced that he was seeking a divorce so he could wed Madeleine Talmage Force, the former wife of John Jacob Astor IV, who died aboard the RMS Titanic.
Fiermonte married Madeleine on 27 November 1933 in New York City, shortly after her divorce from her second husband, William Dick, on 21 July 1933. In 1935, they bought the former Dixie Plantation, a 600 acre estate in Charleston, South Carolina overlooking the Stono River.
They were divorced on 11 June 1938. He was only four years older than his stepson during the marriage, John Jacob Astor VI. In 1944, he allegedly got engaged in Italy to Princess, but they never married.
Fiermonte died in March 1993 in Mentana, Italy.

Selected filmography