Alvaro Vitali, one of the most recognizable faces of Italy’s “commedia sexy all’italiana” in the 1970s and ’80s, has died at the age of 75. Best known for his iconic portrayal of Pierino, the mischievous schoolboy character from a series of risqué comedies, Vitali appeared in over 150 films during his career.

It’s incredibly hard to explain the Pierino phenomenon to anyone who didn’t live in Italy during the 1980s. Like many film genres, trying to understand it decades later feels nearly impossible. And yet, back then, an optimistic Italy—emerging from the dark, turbulent 1970s—was captivated by this man dressed as a schoolboy: ignorant but good-hearted, unmistakably Roman, just like the actor who played him. Alvaro Vitali was well past the age of the character that made him famous, but that didn’t matter.

Pierino was also about the beautiful women who undressed on screen, at a time when Italian society was voting on divorce and abortion and discovering the allure of actresses like Edwige Fenech, Gloria Guida, Nadia Cassini, and Michela Miti. These were the innocent fantasies of Italian men of the era—tame by today’s standards, especially compared to what young people now find online.

Still, Pierino is part of Italy’s entertainment history. And Alvaro Vitali’s passing marks the end of a little piece of youth for many of us—a youth that, in many ways, felt simpler and less burdened than the one young people face today.

Born in Rome in 1950 to a working-class family, Alvaro Vitali left school early and worked odd jobs, including as an electrician. His life changed when famed director Federico Fellini discovered him and cast him in Satyricon (1969). This led to further small roles in Fellini's The Clowns (1970), Roma (1972), and Amarcord (1973), giving Vitali a start in cinema that few comedians could match.

Despite his early work with Fellini, Vitali found true fame in lowbrow comedies. In 1981, director Marino Girolami cast him as Pierino, a crude but lovable schoolboy known from popular Italian jokes. The film Pierino contro tutti was a massive hit and made Vitali a household name. He reprised the role in several sequels, becoming forever linked with the character. Dressed in a blue school smock, high-pitched voice, and delivering vulgar jokes, Vitali's Pierino became a symbol of a certain era in Italian pop culture.

He often worked with beautiful women, true icons of the genre. His films were packed with sexual innuendo, slapstick humor, and absurd situations, reflecting a crude yet oddly innocent depiction of Italian masculinity during a more permissive time. There was no politically correctness back then.

Despite attempts to branch out with roles in films by Monicelli, Magni, and Steno, Vitali remained typecast as Pierino. As the genre faded, so did his mainstream career, though he continued to work and was fondly remembered by fans.

The story of Alvaro Vitali is also a snapshot of a cultural moment: post-economic boom Italy, craving lighthearted escapism, crude humor, and the fantasy of sexual liberation. Behind the jokes and the nudity, his films captured a version of Italy where taboos were mocked, not moralized, and audiences filled theaters for the fun of it. It was fun, simple, and harmless.

Though sometimes dismissed as lowbrow, Vitali’s success reflects a raw kind of stardom, rooted in charisma, timing, and the ability to make people laugh—even when they weren’t supposed to.