- Peppino Mazzullo has died at the age of 100.
- The Italian actor provided the voice of Topo Gigio for 45 years.
- American audiences knew the lovable mouse from his many appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Peppino Mazzullo, the Italian actor whose unmistakable voice helped make Topo Gigio a beloved fixture of The Ed Sullivan Show, has died. He was 100 years old.
Mazzullo died Sept. 30 at his home in Santo Stefano di Briga, Italy, near Messina, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He had celebrated his 100th birthday on June 6. A cause of death was not immediately announced.
Peppino Mazzullo Gave Topo Gigio His Unforgettable Voice
Born Giuseppe Mazzullo in 1926, the actor studied at the Academy of Cinematographic Art in Rome and the Academy of Dramatic Art in Milan before working in theater and radio. His career changed forever when he became the voice of Topo Gigio in 1961, beginning a partnership with the little mouse that would last 45 years.
Created by puppeteer Maria Perego, Topo Gigio became an international sensation and made his Ed Sullivan Show debut in December 1962. The 10-inch mouse proved an endearing contrast to Sullivan’s famously stiff on-camera demeanor, repeatedly returning to the program and charming viewers with his conversations with the host. Mazzullo and Topo Gigio appeared more than 50 times, including on Sullivan’s final show in 1971, according to Cox Media Group.
His Partnership With Topo Gigio Lasted 45 Years
View this post on Instagram
Mazzullo remained Topo Gigio’s voice until 2006, helping shape not just the character’s distinctive sound but his personality and manner of speaking. Italian news agency ANSA reports that Mazzullo even created one of the mouse’s most famous Italian catchphrases, “Ma cosa mi dici mai?”
His career extended beyond the famous mouse, including work in theater, radio and Italian television. Later in life, Mazzullo returned to Sicily and founded the Piccolissimo Teatro di Messina, where he also taught acting. But for generations who grew up watching television, his legacy remains inseparable from the big-eared little mouse who could coax a smile out of Ed Sullivan before asking for one last bit of affection at the end of the night: “Eddie, kiss me goodnight.”