Actor

1950-12-11 · Messina (Italia) · Male

40 series in the catalog

Antonino "Nino" Frassica (born 11 December 1950) is an Italian actor and comedian.

Biography and career

Born in Messina, Sicily, Frassica is mostly known for his deadpan humour, characterized by absurd jokes he described as a way of "ruining logic and the Italian language". He is considered "a master of nonsense humour". He debuted for Italian television with Renzo Arbore's Quelli della notte (1985), in which he played a semi-illiterate friar. Later, again in collaboration with Arbore, he was given a major role in the surreal quiz show Indietro tutta! (lit. Full speed backwards!, 1987).

Frassica has subsequently featured in numerous comic movies, such as Il Bi e il Ba (1986), and TV shows for Italian television. He plays Marshal Antonio "Nino" Cecchini on the Italian TV series Don Matteo (2000-present). He co-hosted the second night of the Sanremo Music Festival 2025 alongside Bianca Balti, Cristiano Malgioglio and Carlo Conti, and the final of the 2026 festival alongside Conti, Laura Pausini and Giorgia Cardinaletti.