A LITTLE PALERMITAN AND A LITTLE MESSINESE, ZORRO SPOKE . . . SICILIAN

The identification of the true Sicilian origins of Guy Williams, pseudonym of Armando Joseph Catalano (1924-1989), the Italian-American actor who entered the history of cinema as the unforgettable protagonist of the Zorro television series, has been achieved thanks to the young historian Domenico Mazza. Based on the genealogical research carried out by Mazza – Ph.D. student of the University of Peloritan, a scholar of Sicilian emigration to the USA, who explored Craxi’s Messina origins and the family roots of Biden’s wife – Catalano was born in Fort George, New York by Attilio Catalano and Clara Arcara, who emigrated from Sicily. By intertwining the documents of Ellis Island (Museum of Emigration of New York) and of the civil status of New York, it is certified that Attilio Catalano is a native of the town of Lercara Friddi, in the province of Palermo (also the place of origin of Lucky Luciano and of Nino Sinatra, father of the legendary Frank). This news – writes the Gazzetta del Sud – denies the Messina origins of Williams’ father, as revealed by the biographical sheet on Wikipedia. Of Messina origin would be her mother, Clara Arcara, who left the city of the Strait with her mother Maria Zumbo and her brother Oscar. The “Sicilian face of Zorro”, as the journalist Salvo Toscano defines it, therefore had a double island origin, Palermo-Messina.