writer Juan Carlos Mesa in the sitcom Mesa de noticias (News Desk). The prime time show, which premiered on ATC in December 1983, was set in a struggling network news program, where Lunadei played De La Nata, an obsequious correspondent who showered the hapless programming director (Mesa) with compliments such as "benemérito señor director, le pertenezco" ("I belong to you, my honorable director"), while sabotaging coworkers and dispensing ad hominem attacks such as "infeliz!" ("loser!"/"wretch!") and his trademark interjection: "SHAQ!" (typically with a chopping motion of the hand). The sitcom was a success and ran until New Year's Eve 1987, appealing to audiences of an unusually varied demographic. Lunadei returned to cinema in a 1987 lampoon of profiteering in the medical industry, La clínica del Doctor Cureta, and in a 1988 film adaptation of cartoonist Horacio Altuna'a Las Puertitas del señor López. Lunadei earned a Konex Award for lifetime achievement in comedy in 1991. He then joined Mesa in a spin-off of Mesa de Noticias, El gordo y el flaco (akin to Laurel and Hardy), which aired from 1991 to 1994, and appeared in a number of sitcoms in subsequent years. However, Lunadei's often manic on-screen persona belied his struggle with clinical depression. Separated from his wife, he began a relationship with television actress Perla Caron in 1993, and in 1997 moved to her Belgrano home. He continued to work despite his worsening condition, and had memorable roles such as in the mystery mini-series Archivo negro (Black File), for which he was nominated for a Martín Fierro Award in 1997, and in the film-noir El inquietante caso de José Blum (The Troubling Case of José Blum). Alone in Perla Caron's home, he shot himself with a .32 caliber pistol on June 17, 1998. Lunadei was interred in the Actors' Pantheon at La Chacarita Cemetery. The respected stage, television and film actor was renowned in the local entertainment industry for his improvisational skills. A production company operated by Juan Carlos Mesa and others announced that a remake of Mesa de noticias was being considered; Mesa himself expressed that "bringing back a hit such as that inevitably leads to criticism that it's somehow not the same, and it wouldn't be the same: Gianni is no longer here". References External links Gianni Lunadei at Cinenacional.com 1938 births 1998 deaths Male actors from Rome Argentine male stage actors Argentine male comedians Argentine television personalities