Eduardo De Filippo OMRI (1900 – 1984) - Italian actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright

Eduardo De Filippo was born in Naples, Italy on 26th May 1900. He was the second son of playwright and actor Eduardo Scarpetta, the "king" of Neapolitan theatre, and theatre seamstress and costumier Luisa De Filippo.  He and his siblings Annunziata "Titina" and Giuseppe "Peppino" were extramarital because Scarpetta was actually married since 1876 to Rosa De Filippo, Luisa's paternal aunt. Scarpetta had six more illegitimate children from various affairs, including actors Ernesto Murolo and Eduardo Passarelli. Scarpetta never acknowledged Eduardo De Filippo and his siblings, which is why the son took his mother's name.

Near the end of the First World War in 1918, Eduardo was drafted into the Italian military. He received a temporary discharge at the end of that year following the Armistice. Because his full compulsory military service was not finished, he was recalled in 1920 to serve in the 2nd Bersaglieri Regiment in Rome.

During his peacetime service, Eduardo’s commanding officer tasked him with organizing theatrical performances for the soldiers, allowing him to write, direct, and act while in uniform. He completed his service and returned to his professional theatre career full-time in 1921.

OMRI = Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, which translates into English as The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

Eduardo De Filippo received the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (OMRI), specifically being made a Knight of the Grand Cross in 1973, for his high artistic merits and major contributions to Italian culture and theat

Source:  Wikipedia