Mario Monicelli

Ill with pancreatic cancer, he jumps from hospital window

ROME  Oscar-nominated director and screenwriter Mario Monicelli, considered one of the fathers of the Italian comedy of the 1940s-1960s, died on Monday after jumping from a fifth-story hospital window, the hospital said. He was 95.

Mr. Monicelli was being treated at Rome's San Giovanni hospital for pancreatic problems and leaped to his death on Monday night, said Anna Scoltore, who heads the hospital's media office. Scoltore said he had been admitted a few days earlier and that it appeared his condition was terminal.

Mr. Monicelli's body, covered by a sheet, remained on the ground hours later as medical examiners and police investigated.

Mr. Monicelli worked with some of the biggest names of the "commedia all'Italiana," including Marcello Mastroianni, Toto and Alberto Sordi.

"He was my Fellini," fellow Tuscan director Giovanni Veronese told Sky TG24. "It's a terrible day."

Mr. Monicelli directed Mastroianni in the acclaimed "Big Deal on Madonna Street" (1958), and his "The Great War" a year later picked up the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, which honored Monicelli with a lifetime achievement award in 1991.

He was nominated for Oscar's best foreign language film for "Casanova '70" of 1965 and "I Compagni" of 1963, according to film databases.

Walter Veltroni, former Rome mayor and frequent cultural commentator, said Mr. Monicelli's shocking death left a bitter taste for all.

"We feel profoundly and humanly hurt by his death, which we know is a loss that weighs and will continue to weigh heavily on us," Veltroni said in a statement.

Funeral arrangements weren't immediately released.