Ugo Pagliai shares in an interview the pain for the disappearance of Paola Gassmanto whom he was linked for more than 55 years: “It is difficult for me, at this moment, to speak with a clear mind. We were bound not only by a boundless love, a strong warmth, but above all a boundless mutual respect”.
“Sorry, I can’t do it, the pain overwhelms me. There’s a lot of confusion in my head,” says the actor and voice actor to Corriere della Sera. Ugo Pagliai, 86 years old, retraces their love story: “Our meeting was truly a coincidence of fate, because she had come to the Academy of Dramatic Art Silvio d’Amico to see the essay by the man who would become her first husband, Luciano Virgilio. I was also among the spectators. A fortuitous and fleeting meeting, but she was so beautiful and I had looked at her.”
Paola Gassman in fact married Luciano Virgilio with whom she had her first daughter Simona. However, the couple separated very soon. Later the actress became involved with Ugo Pagliai with whom she had her son Tommaso, but with whom she never married: “We never got married, perhaps for good luck. We said it many times, but she had already had this experience , while I got married to the characters I played. Ultimately, this choice not to get married, all things considered, brought us luck.”
As regards Paola Gassman’s illness, Ugo Pagliai explains that there has never been a real diagnosis. “Initially we did some checks because she had suspicious symptoms, which she however overcame. Paola refused to carry out further tests, doctors, medicines. I believe that she was well aware of the fate of her mother Nora Ricci, who died of cancer and she had suffered a lot from it.”
Today Ugo Pagliai feels guilty for not having investigated his partner’s illness: “I should have forced her to proceed with the tests, I didn’t do it to respect her wishes. When she had pain that caused her suffering, there was very little I could do , just some massages.”
Regarding the last days of her life, he adds: “She has recently been hospitalized and the doctors were talking about a tumor, maybe a stroke, maybe it was all at the same time, I don’t know, I don’t remember.” Finally, the actor shares his last memory of his partner: “I told her: ‘I love you’. She only replied: ‘Ugo…’, but in that Ugo there is our whole history together”.
April 11, 2024
