Peppino Mazzullo, Italian actor and voice of Topo Gigio for 45 years, dies at 100

Passing in Sicily

Italian actor and voice artist Giuseppe "Peppino" Mazzullo died on Wednesday morning, 30 September 2026, at his home in Santo Stefano di Briga, a fraction of Messina in Sicily where he was born in 1926. Mazzullo turned 100 years old on 6 June 2026, celebrating the milestone in the village's Piazza San Giovanni alongside friends and local residents. He had retired to his hometown after concluding his active career in entertainment. His funeral service is scheduled for Thursday, 1 October 2026, at 15:30 in the village church of San Giovanni Battista. In addition to his voice work for Topo Gigio, Mazzullo performed the character Richetto on the children's television song competition Zecchino d'Oro.

Creation of the character's voice

The foam puppet Topo Gigio was created by Maria Perego and Federico Caldura, making its television debut in 1959 with singer Domenico Modugno providing the character's initial voice. Mazzullo took over the role in 1961 after director Lydia C. Ripandelli recommended him to Perego. Mazzullo recounted that Italian comedian Gino Bramieri was present during his initial audition at Rai and advised him never to alter the vocal tone he had created. Mazzullo considered the performance an acting interpretation rather than conventional dubbing, writing scripts and inventing popular catchphrases such as "Ma cosa mi dici mai?". He attributed the inspiration for the voice to a childhood memory from age two, when his mother comforted him by describing a bedroom mouse as a Sicilian "fuddettu", or magical sprite.

I was an improviser and everything Topo Gigio said came from me, in the moment. Nobody ever told me what I had to do.

Career milestones and global television

Mazzullo voiced the puppet continuously for 45 years until 2006, expanding the character's reach across international television. In December 1962, Topo Gigio debuted in the United States on The Ed Sullivan Show, becoming a regular recurring guest and finishing routines with a requested goodnight kiss. Mazzullo noted meeting actress Ginger Rogers during his US visits and recalled that Topo Gigio accumulated more appearances on Sullivan's broadcast than singer Frank Sinatra. The character later spawned an animated series in Japan and international brand visibility. During television broadcasts, puppeteers dressed entirely in black operated the puppet against a dark backdrop while Mazzullo performed the dialogue.

Collaborations and peer tributes

In the early 1970s, Mazzullo collaborated with singer and presenter Memo Remigi on the Rai 1 series L'inquilino del piano di sotto across 15 episodes. The program featured Remigi at the piano while Topo Gigio bantered from a lower tier of the set, yielding the recorded duet "Che tipo di topo". Following Mazzullo's death, Remigi recalled their decades of friendship and emphasized that Mazzullo's vocal improvisation established the character's identity before subsequent performers took over the role.

If they had given that mouse another vocal tone, it would never have become Topo Gigio and would not have remained alive in the hearts of viewers for over 50 years.