Which actor played the father, Guido Orefice, in the 1997 film Life Is Beautiful?

Roberto Benigni played the father Guido Orefice in the 1997 film Life Is Beautiful. Benigni also directed and co-wrote the Italian film.

The story follows Guido, a Jewish Italian man who uses humor and imagination to protect his young son during the Holocaust. He presents the concentration camp as a complicated game so that the child will be less frightened by the surrounding danger.

Benigni won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role, making him the first male performer to win that award for a performance in a non-English-language film. The film also won Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Dramatic Score.

The movie is not a Father's Day film in the holiday-calendar sense. Its relevance to fatherhood comes from Guido's sacrifice and his determined effort to shield his son.